Thursday Morning July 31st

Well Wednesday was both a work day until the afternoon and then it was a fun day or a reading afternoon as I sat outside on the porches and finished a good read by Sparks. I had started the day with my usual before 6 rollout to my usual routines that begin with some quiet times to honor my lord, Jesus, give thanks for another day and then to lift up several by name for comfort and healing. All seem to be holding with this post. I headed out to check on the gardens after my social media posts and some stretching on the back porch. Everything looked good and I didn't see any more deer damage to any of the flower or veggie beds. 

I did a few piddly gardening chores and then harvested another basket of yellow squashes and cucumbers which we eventually gave a way along with some blueberries we had harvested from the top of the mountain to Anne and Frank and then Grant and Shirley. My blueberries haven't started to ripen except for one bush which has maybe a handful but the bushes on top of the mountain are loaded and ripening daily and the owner wanted us to pick them as well and what's in his garden. We did pick a tomato and a zucchini and bring them home for our use. My tomato's are large but not ripening so I gave them more bone meal, fertilizer as well as some epson salts. I did pick several jalapeno's as well as a bunch of kale and clean it for the salad bag.

We didn't hike today but did take a couple of turns around the hilly yards after supper as it looked like a storm was coming. We did get a storm at 2:30 in the morning that was a gully washer as the rain and what sounded like hail was hitting the tin roof. Nancy snored through the storm but it awakened me and it lasted a good hour. I'm sure it filled the creeks and maybe some local flooding as it was that heavy. I'll need to check the drive way this morning for deep ruts.

Well I did tune into the Ray's game and while they led the whole game until the last inning when they lost again to the Yanks, oh well. I soon hit the shower and some horizontal lab shortly there after, LATER

Wednesday Morning July 30th

 Well this month is just about gone as out time here grows shorter each month. I so love it here in these mountains with nature all around, but this year has been one with extremes at times with the rain sometimes too much and then not enough and then with ice storm which brought down some many trees and limbs and now the heat which is causing extreme temps here and in Florida.

I started the day with my usual before 6 rollout to my routines that begin with some quiet moments to give thanks and to honor my lord, Jesus and to lift up several by name for comfort and healing. All seem to be holding with this post. I headed out after posting this ramble and some social media posts to stretch on the back porch before heading out to check on the gardens for any deer damage, which we did have while we were in Woodstock, Va. Not as bad as it could have been but obvious evidence they had been in the gardens. I did harvest more yellow squashes and well as tons of cucumbers which are so delicious. The flower beds also suffered some damage as the deer prefer certain ones at different times. The zinnias are finally blooming off the front porch bed and now the marigolds are showing their colors out by the red shed and the fire circle. I did a lot of weeding through out the morning before it became too hot.

We did take a hike to the top of the mountain before lunch and it was a struggle for Nancy who has added some extra weight and as have I as well, but I'm on a non dessert diet and some dieting from too many calories or preferably over eating. We did about 2/3 of the walk across the top as she was fading so we came on back down to the cabin but did get in the up hill hike which is really what we need to do daily. Hopefully we can get back to it since we have neglected this daily physical activity, oh well.

The a/c went on when we got back and it stayed on the rest of the day as the heat was evident despite some threats of rain at times. Towards dusk we got a major storm with some thunder and down pours and the rain was a welcome relief to some dry days that were here for over a week. The gardens sure needed the rain as I had watered a couple times since getting back on Monday. Nancy made a meat loaf for our supper with some fresh boiled squash which was excellent as well as some smashed tatters that needed using.  I'm still waiting on the tomato's to ripen but did notice on the cherry tomato plant in the backwoods garden patch a couple were turning, finally. I'm tired of buying store bought ones that have no taste.

Well I started a new Nickolas Sparks story titled SAFE HAVEN and read about half of it in one sitting as its a chick book but a good story. I did tune into the Ray's game and after winning the game at one time their pitching was terrible and they were down 3 runs to the Yanks in the later innings, so I hit the shower and read until lights out around 10:30, LATER

Tuesday Morning July 29th

 Well I'm back at the cabin after a short trip to Woodstock and while it was hot there we had a fun time visiting with youngest sister Dee and then on Saturday afternoon with the two other sisters who all are actually first cousins, but their mom and dad took me in when I was a small lad and raised me until I left home at 17. I've been their big older brother their entire lives and its been an honor. I do have a half sister who I've never lived with but these 3 sisters have kept in contact with her over the years and we did speak with her also, during the afternoon and evening visit. It has been many years before I first came in contact with her and her family probably 5 years or more at an eatery in W. Virginia and before that for at least 60 years or more. Anyhow it was a short trip and its also fun to visit, eat high on the hog and play cards. All are having some health issues with some more serious than others but doing life as best as they know how.

The trip back yesterday was mostly uneventful except for my wife's back seat driving at times which at times was an issue and its becoming more every time I get behind the wheel, oh well. We did stop in Roanoke at Sam's Club to fill up at 2.61 at the gas pump and then again for some mostly paper products which has now become the stable at meal times instead of china or dishes, oh well. We even use them in Florida despite having a dish washer, but I'm the main dish washer here at the cabin.

The cucumbers and lettuces were quite dried out as well as were the tomato's, but I'm disappointed these nice large tomato's have not started to ripen. I did harvest several nice yellow squashes and cucumbers  and noticed the jalapeno's are ready for harvesting as well. There are some small beans on then upper garden vines as well. The deer did a number on my October bean vines as well as some beet greens and some flower plants but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Another device has quit working so out of the 6 devices with one replacement, now three aren't working at all, oh well.

When we got back to the cabin we had a nice sandwich which held me the rest of the day and evening, plus I'm trying to cut down on my intake of food and to lose a little as I'm just getting fat around the middle. I did a small work out on Dee's thread mill on Saturday and that was about all of the exercise we did for 4 days except bend the elbow and it shows around my middle, oh well.

I did hand water lots of the garden but it clouded up and even thundered and I thought sure for a couple hours we were getting some much needed rain, but none fell so this morning I'll drag out the hose and give everything a good drink. The grass in yards seem to like these temps and dry weather as it has grown while we were gone. It was in the low 80's when we got back on the mountain after being in the middle to upper 90's in Woodstock. Mike and Dee's a/c unit was having a tough time keeping up with all the folks there on Saturday and so they brought our extra floor fans and while we usually freeze there at times it wasn't near that with this visit. Anyhow our a/c is on here but it quite nice outside if you sat under the porch in the shade which I did before dark until the Ray's game came on. They are in N.Y playing the Yankee's and pulled the game out after walking two runs in to tie the game, oh well.

It was nice to be back in our shower and then our bed and so it was lights out before 10 for me, LATER

Monday Afternoon July 28th ..back at the cabin

Well we started the day with a 6'ish rollout as we made ready to leave beautiful Woodstock, Va. and head back to our cabin just off the Blue Ridge Parkway. We packed up and left a little before 9 as we headed down I-81 towards Roanoke and Sam's Club to stock up on some items to last us the rest of the summer; mainly paper products and some food items. We also gassed up at 2.61 as well before taking the two lane road to Bent Mountain and then to Floyd and finally to Galax where we stopped and shopped some more. We even made a stop at the barber shop to have my ears lowered as well before getting back on the mountain.

The rain gauge was dry and so were many of the garden plants and I did take several watering cans of rain water from the barrel and hand watered some of the plants that looked the driest. I did harvest several mature cucumbers as well as several yellow squashes and noticed the deer had eaten off a few of the hollyhock plants as well as some of the October bean vines and a few beet green tops; but I'm thrilled its no worst than these few except, one of the egg plants had been topped by a deer. It was in the upper 80's which was still hot but nothing like the Woodstock area where 90's seemed normal for the time we were there. It has now clouded up and we sure could use a decent shower and if not I'll hand water before dark. It sure looks like rain with now over cast skies and the darkening of the skies, LATER

Sunday Morning July 27th from Woodstock, Va.

 Well Saturday was another hot day here with temps in the upper 90's and the index must have been over a hundred and its supposed to be that way again the rest of this week. We did get a small shower which lasted only minutes and did cool it down for a few minutes. It was another fun day here with sister Dee and Mike as we had the other two sisters down for a shrimp boil and to celebrate Dee's belated birthday on the 22nd and then mine on the 6th of next month; more on that later. 

I started the morning with a 6'ish rollout  to my routines that begin with some quiet times to honor my lord, Jesus, give thanks for another day and to lift up several by name for comfort and healing, all seem to be holding with this post. I skipped any morning breakfast as I need to cut back but made up for it around 11'ish with some leftover chicken salad and some crackers to hold me for the big meal around 3ish when Dee and Mike put together a huge pot of boiled shrimps with corn on the cob, kielbasa and oven tatters plus a tray of fresh veggies. Now that was some fine eatin' and then we had a cheese cake with fresh fruit as the toppings a couple hours later that Nancy had made at the cabin and brought with us.

Well Josie made Hawaiian leis for everyone and then we started talkin' old times and opened gifts and took lots of pics. It was a fun time and then we shared some old stories about folks who have long gone and it was getting on toward evening when every one left for home. We got into another hand, knee and foot game and the guys finally were able to pull out a win which went down to the wire. It was close to 10 when we finished so I hit the shower and then some horizontal lab, LATER

Saturday Morning July 26th

 Well I was away from this laptop on Friday as we had just got into Woodstock for a family reunion with sister Dee and Mike and their active dog Sophie. The temps are a little on the warm side here in the Shenandoah Valley with the 90's being present, but the morning views from their beautiful place between the Blue Ridge Mountains is picture perfect.

 I started the morning on Thursday with my usual before 6 rollout and my morning routine that begin with some quiet times to honor my lord, Jesus, give thanks for another day and to lift up several by name for comfort and healing . All seem to be holding with this post. We got ready and loaded the truck for our after 9 departure for Woodstock. Well the ride up through the mountains was uneventful and we made a stop at Sam's Club in Roanoke for gas before continuing north on I-81 for about 25 miles when the truck traffic became so stop and go we decided to get off near Lexington onto Rt 11. Well it took us all the way to Woodstock but added a couple hours to our journey but the views along the way with beautiful old homes and many old log cabins that have been restored. It was a pleasant drive and we got in around 3'ish after a 6 hour drive which on the interstate would take about 4'ish. Anyhow it was quite hot with temps in the upper 90's but the corn fields looked great despite the heat as they had been getting plenty of rain.

We visited then ate a lite supper of some chicken salad and settled into a game of hand, knee and foot. The gals whupped us badly and then we called it a night after a hot shower. Friday morning found us sleeping in some what as getting use to a new bed which is quite comfortable takes some getting use to. Nancy had some tummy issues during the night so that didn't help with the sleeping arrangements at all. She is a little better during the day on Friday as we took a ride over to Front Royal which is at the foot of the Skyline Drive. We shopped at a Rural King and then had a delicious lunch at a burger place which was hopping with customers and the food was very good as we had burgers and fries and Nancy had a plain fried chicken sandwich which she only had a couple bites and brought the rest home for later. Mike and Dee purchased a new heavy duty Chevrolet truck to pull their camper and it is like sitting up in a tractor trailer its that large and comfortable.

We headed back and did some shopping on the way for a few items for today(Sat) get together with the other two sisters, Josie and Pat and their spouses for an early supper/late lunch of a shrimp boil. We then got into an afternoon game of hand, knee and foot and the gals prevailed with a win again in a little closer game but the game after a lite supper was much closer and they pulled it out after we were ahead going into the final round as we could not get one of our required books, oh well. It was after 9 and we all were some what worn out due to the lack of sleep the night before so I hit the shower and was down for some horizontal lab before 10, LATER

Thursday Morning July 24th

Well Wednesday was another total work day that started with a before 6 rollout to my routines that begin with some quiet times to honor my lord, Jesus, give thanks for another day and to lift up several by name for comfort and healing, all seem to be holding with this post. I headed out after posting this ramble to stretch on the back porch before actually walking around checking on the gardens and did notice where a rabbit had eaten off all of the recently transplanted lettuce seedlings in the back woods patch, so I sowed some old dill seeds as well as some radish seeds in their place; now that the moon is basically dark. I've learned that sowing seeds for veggies that produce fruit below the ground need to be sowed in the dark of the moon and vice versa. I had beautiful radish tops with my last sowing but not one radish which goes to show the Bible and the Almanac is correct when gardening, oh well.

I fired up the weed eater and did the property and then made up a gallon or so of grass and weed killer and sprayed the gravel and the rocks surrounding the fire circle and the driveway which kept me busy right up to lunch time. Once again I harvested yellow squash and cucumbers and took a basket down to the Heglar's and we sat and visited for a spell and when we left I ran out of gas with the golf cart. Luckily I was close to Mike and Linda's and they have an identical cart to mine so I borrowed it to run home and get my can of gas and then we were soon on our way back to the cabin.

We decided to have to have a salmon filet with some pasta for our supper and then in the middle of it our power went out. Well we called Shirley to see if they had power as they are the first cabin on our lane and come to find that Grant and cut a small tree and it fell the wrong way and hit the power line and it burned into, oh well. The company came out shortly after being notified and fixed it within a couple hours. While we still had plenty of sunshine we headed to the top of the mountain to check on the old Joe and Jetta cabin to harvest some blueberries the new owner wanted us to harvest. We picked about a pint or more and brought them back and shortly thereafter out power was back on, thankfully. I figured it would take hours but these fellers up here were on the ball.

We cleaned up the supper dishes and then started getting ready to leave for a few days, so down came the suitcase and bags we intended to haul our stuff to Virginia. I'll check the cucumber vines this morning and pick several to take with us and give away to family there as well as some zucchini's which are many. The tomato's haven't started to ripen yet but several are very large and will probably come in while we are gone. I have a neighbor to come back on Saturday and check for any veggies that need picking so they don't go to waste.

I tuned in to the Ray's game and they were up 7-5 before I decided to shower and when I came out they were down 10-7. What happened to their relief pitching, oh well. I soon hit the sack around 10'ish, LATER

Wednesday Morning July 23rd

 Well Tuesday started out with my usual before 6 rollout to my routines that begin with some quiet time to honor my lord, Jesus, give thanks for another day and to lift up several by name for comfort and healing. All seem to be holding that we know of. We headed out to Galax, Va. and to Walmart mainly to get the oil changed in the truck and to do some shopping. We had an hour or so wait so I struck a conversation with a feller working the gun area and we chatted for several minutes and told of our stories as we both were about the same age. He at one time lived in Thailand where I use to fly into at Udorn AFB and eventually married a local girl and has now return to the states after many years living abroad; interesting feller and was born and raised not far from Winchester where I grew up, so we had a lot in common.

It was close to 1:30 before we got back on the mountain and had a bite of leftovers and then I settled into mowing all of the yards which kept me busy for the next 2 plus hours. The smell of fresh cut grass is intoxicating and so delicious to say the least. We piddled around the cabin doing some minor chores before a supper of leftovers as we are almost done with them before we leave tomorrow for Woodstock for the long weekend. I did harvest several more cucumbers which I will give away today and probably take some with us to Virginia to give away as well to family. I'm picking 5-6 a day.

We did play a game of hand, knee and foot after supper until her show came on TV and I had the Ray's game on the laptop and I won my game and so did the Ray's after blowing a 4 run lead. Not sure why they are playing down after being on such a win streak before the all star break, oh well. I soon hit the shower and was ready for some horizontal lab shortly there after, LATER

Tuesday Morning July 22nd ...Happy Big Day to Dee

 Well Monday was a work in the cabin kind of day that meant a clean up from Rocky who slobbers and sheds hair every where but I got it done working on the floors with vacuuming, damp mop and then waxing but before all that I started the day with my usual routines after 6 ish rollout. I did my quiet times to honor my lord, Jesus, give thanks for another day and to lift up several for comfort and healing but on a sad note an old friend of ours from church here passed away. Actually she was much younger than us and we just learned of her health issues this past week since she no longer visited our church. So sad as she was a new grand mother as well. On a lighter note all is well with both our son and daughter's families as they are back home after being away a couple weeks and are back in the grind of life.

I ate well for breakfast with eggs, grits, toast, tomato and a jalapeno pepper straight from the gardens after checking on the gardens. I did pull another couple zucchini's as well as several yellow squashes and a hand full of cucumbers. I loaded up a basket of both yellow squash and cukes and gave them away to several neighbors on our afternoon ride to the mailbox, we stopped and visited with Mike, Linda and Elaine who were cleaning out this old cabin he purchased from the owners wife just a couple days ago. The owner passed away some time ago and we really never got to meet him except a time or two when he was up to mow. It was very rustic but yesterday we went inside and was quite surprised at the largeness and what good shape it was inside. The place joins Mike's place and is across the road from where Elaine lives. We blessed them with both veggies as well.

We headed on up to Bob and Mary's place and blessed them with some squash and cucumbers as well and visited with Bob for a few before heading back towards the cabin. We decided to check out the old Joe and Jetta place as their new owners ask us to pick the blueberries and the veggies as they will be gone for several weeks to Italy. We will pick blueberries on Wednesday afternoon as well as some of ours that is starting to turn and take with us to Dee's on Thursday. We got a lite rain after getting home and while checking the gardens I did notice deer had eaten some of the new hollyhock plants some time over night or during the day, oh well. One of my deer deflectors has gone on the blink as well.

We ate lite for lunch after the big breakfast for me and then for supper we had some mushrooms that needed eating so we had a frozen pizza with them and a garden salad. Except for the hollyhocks being eaten off in the backwoods flower beds everything else looks healthy and good. I did top some tomato plants and set out a couple lettuce seedlings in that patch as well.

I sat and finish one book and started another and while neither are worth mentioning as of yet I want to start a Nickolas Sparks book that I picked up at the library last week. He is such a good story teller but usually has me in tears by the end of the book which the Ray's have me in during their game plays as they were losing to a team who has 22 less wins than them, whats with the team, oh well. I soon hit the shower and called it a night at 10'ish, LATER

Monday Morning July 21st

 Well Sunday morning was teary eyed for me as the Ross Family left after being here for close to two weeks off and on, at least Rocky was for the whole two weeks. They left a little before 7 and got back to Seminole some time around 6'ish. They made great time until they hit Ocala in Florida and then the traffic was terrible on I-75 and the heat was over a hundred degrees. What a change from when they left here with temps in the 60's to start the day. I know Rocky must be panting in being back in the constant heat, oh well. Their small SUV was packed and loaded down with all of their belonging and the big Rocky. We are sure thrilled it was an uneventful trip for them and they made it back safely. son Bobby and family was on their way back from a huge over seas trip to the north on a cruise ship for 10 days after leaving from London. I haven't heard from them since they left Europe.

Well we did our usual morning routines on Sunday before heading out to Cornerstone for the first time in 3 weeks. We watched Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg then headed out to our Cornerstone Fellowship in Sparta. We got word another friend of ours from the early beginning of the church is very ill and not looking good will severe health issues. After the service since Jake and Katelyn has last minute meeting for their mission trip this morning we skipped eating out with them and came home to eat as we have tons of leftovers in the fridge from the last couple of days. I did a few piddly jobs after lunch as the tomato plants were falling over from being so tall and the wind, so I staked them and then tied the bean poles to a stake as well as they too are being blown over with the strong wind at times. They have grown to the top of the 7 ft poles, but haven't begun to bloom yet. I noticed a couple more potato plants have emerged from the bed I had them in so I transplanted them into an area where I'm growing fall tatters. I harvested anothe bucket of yellow squash and will bless the neighbors today with some.

I watched the Rays lose to the Orioles at home in Tampa and it was a rain delay for hours as they now play outside since the Trop was damaged severely by the hurricane last summer. Nancy was on the phone with Carol for a couple hours so I read then watched some videos on the laptop before hitting the shower and then some horizontal lab  around 10'ish. We did speak with baby sister Dee for a few as we head up to their place in Woodstock, Va. which is about a 4-5 hour drive on Thursday morning for a couple of days as we celebrate her and my's birthdays next Saturday with her other two older sisters. Their dad who was my uncle took me in when I was but a small lad and raised me until I left home at 17. They all have called me their brother despite being first cousins and my kids and grands call them my sisters as well. It should be a fun time with them with some fine eatin' and game playing as well, LATER

Sunday Morning July 20th.. The Ross Family is about to leave for Florida

 Well Saturday turned out to be a fun day as we all went together in one vehicle to Boone to visit the the two Mast General stores as none of the Ross Family had ever been there. It was an adventure as well as we took a different route that Bobby had taken me before but never for Nancy and of course the others. It was an uneventful trip except for rain showers at times and it rained while we were visiting the two places.

I started the day with my usual before 6 rollout to my routines that begin with some quiet times to honor my lord, Jesus, give thanks for another day and to lift up several by name. All seem to be holding with this post. We ate a lite breakfast before heading out to Boone after I did a check of the gardens and found no deer damage.

I'll cut this post short as Amy and Tyler are up and loading the car and Rocky is back to following them around like their shadow. The grands will be down soon and will soon be heading out, LATER

Saturday Morning July 19th

Well Friday was a busy fun filled day as we entertained the Ross Family until late in the evening with a game of domino's after a delicious supper that was composed of some leftovers but mostly grilled chicken, Swiss chard and a fresh garden salad with cup cakes for dessert but some had smore's as we had a fire outside for a couple hours. I was surprised we were able to get it going as we had a down pour during the afternoon but we did and then Sam had dug up a couple sassafras roots and had them in an old coffee pot to make a tea.

I had started the day with my usual before 6 rollout to my routines that begin with some quiet time to honor my lord Jesus, give thanks for another day and to lift up several by name for comfort and healing, all seem to be holding with this post. I headed out to stretch on the back porch before heading out to check on the gardens for any deer damage and thankfully everything looked great especially all of the transplants from yesterday. I harvested another 6 yellow squashes and 3 beautiful cucumbers as well as several large leaves of Swiss chard for our supper. It was the first time the Ross grands had ever eaten Swiss chard and while Ava loved it Eliza and Sam weren't sure yet, even Tyler loved it.

We all took a mid morning hike to the top of the mountain and saw Sarah there with her old small dog and we visited for a few before walking on across the top and saw Charlie Condon out in his yard. We stopped briefly and then headed down the back road. Rocky was in his joy as he was able to run free most of the way. Charlie's family was gone so they didn't get to see Rocky or he didn't get to visit with them as he is a people person dog. We were whupped especially Nancy as we headed back down to the cabin as the temps were getting a little warmer and the humidity was back. The a/c went back on for the rest of the day and evening. There were rain clouds all around the area but we managed to miss it until later in the afternoon when we got a shower.

We ate left overs for lunch and then we guys settled into some poker as Sam has an awesome case of real chips and playing cards, so we played various poker games. It was fun and Sam knew all the rules to playing the games of chance. I managed to get lucky and won the most chips. 

I cut up two whole chicken into parts and put them on the grill for an hour or so  and we had a pot of dried beans cooking as well as leftover tatter casserole and of course the fresh picked Swiss chard and a garden salad. Despite the threat of rain we decided to do a fire for the first time since they were here so we built one and actually it did fine, enough so everyone but Tyler and I skipped the smore's. Everyone seemed to have a fun time playing in the fire and making smore's as well as heating marsh mellows for Rocky.

Well we headed in and some of us starting hitting the showers and then we all played chicken foot domino's as it was the first time for Eliza and Sam. Ava played a couple rounds then had to take a phone call from Panama from her beau Landon, so she quit and then we all quit after 5 rounds or so as the night was getting long. Tyler was the winner with the lowest score. I soon hit the sack as was out for the night.

Today we all make the trip to Boone and Blowing Rock to visit the Mast General store and then over to Blowing Rock, the cute touristy town before heading back as they need to pack for an early morning start on Sunday for home, LATER

Friday Morning July 18th

 Well Amy and family got in around 5:30 and Rocky was thrilled as he has been sad missing his family and he ran around with them outside after supper chasing Sam, Ava and Eliza They made movies of him and I think they were excited to see him as well. They had a grand time visiting with Tyler's family from Kansas in Tennessee for the past week as well.

I started the day with my usual routines that begin with some quiet times to honor my lord, Jesus, give thanks for another day and to lift up several by name for comfort and healing, all seem to be holding with this post. We haven't heard much from Bobby and family as they are on a cruise to Norway and surrounding countries with Katie's folks and her sisters and kids. Hopefully all is well. I headed out after posting this ramble to stretch on the back porch before checking on the gardens for any deer damage and thus far none which is awesome to say the least. 

It was another basically work day as I piddled around in the gardens transplanting a dozen lettuce seedlings into the upper patch and then thinning out some beets and transplanting 8 seedlings which a couple had beets large enough to eat, into the backwoods patch and finally 5 hills of potato's plants that came up from peelings down into a patch I use sparingly. I did harvest several yellow squashes along with a zucchini for the grill basket for our supper and of course several more cucumbers which are exploding daily with mature ones. Eliza eats them like candy which are so great for you. The jalapenos peppers are in and do they ever have a lot heat for a change as several of us added them to our potato casserole.

I had put on the smoker a 10 pound Boston butt that I cut in half and Nancy made up a rub around 8 ish and smoked it with apple wood until 5'ish, delicious to say the least and there was enough left over for a lunch. I vacuumed the house and course lots of Rocky hair was evident in the vacuum. Nancy had a couple loads of wash on the line and in the dryer as well as she prepared a potato casserole and a huge salad mainly from our gardens leafy greens.

After supper we hit a few birdies down on the badmitton area but mainly it was watching Rocky be active again with the grands. We sat outside on the porches until shower time as we stagger them for hot water use with 7 people showering. After mine around 8:30 I sat and watched some HGTV and nearly fell asleep so off to bed did I go around 9:30. I was awakened around midnight by a violent thunder and lightning storm that caused our electricity to flicker off and then we got a down pour. I think since every one was in their SUV yesterday they will want to stay home today and maybe hike the mountain here. Not sure about tomorrow but their is a chance we may hike Stone Mountain near us here which is a national park. I'm not sure how much ice storm damage did to the trees in the park, but there was and still is down trees every where in the forests around here and around the cabin.

Everyone is still asleep as I'm making this post and Rocky is laying here in the front room snoring with Nancy in the bedroom snoring, oh well, LATER

Thursday Morning July 17th

Well Wednesday was another wet start of the day with rain during the early morning hours and then fog  so heavy you could barely see the surrounding landscape until after lunch. We were off to Sparta to run some errands and then to shop for when the Ross Family arrive back from Tennessee this evening. I started the day much the usual with a before 6 rollout to my routines that start with some quiet times to honor my lord, Jesus, give thanks for another day and to lift up several by name for comfort and healing, all seem to be holding with this post. After my posts on social media I headed out to stretch on the back porch before walking the yards to check on the gardens. So far knock on wood the deer have stayed away as I've notice no damaged to any of the gardens and flower beds which is quite unusual.

The squashes are maturing as are the cucumbers and I'm harvesting daily along with some herbs for my salad bowl. The 'maters are getting large and hopefully with start to ripen, probably when we are gone for a few days next week they will come in, oh well. The ground is holding moisture so we are good in that regard as yesterday during the day it stayed dry with no rain fall. The grasses are going to need mowing before we leave for Woodstock a week from today.

I made a stop at the library while Nancy shopped in Sparta proper of course that didn't take long for her but I picked up 3 books for myself and then we headed to Food Lion for another stock up and found a good buy on sweet corn at 4 for a buck. We had them and a grilled pork chop for our supper after a salad for lunch and oatmeal with lots of pecans, cinnamon, wine berries and a banana. So we ate healthy for the day except she made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing for the Ross grands and of course we had to try one after supper.

I piddled around on the computer watching the world news with Israel and those terrorists will just not stop trying to eliminate them and so the IDF is taking it to them once again in Gaza and now Syria. I hope they bomb these radicals back to the stone age. It got rather warm and humid in the afternoon so I stayed basically in the a/c until after supper when we checked all of the gardens and flower beds and sat a spell on the front porch enjoying the nice breeze as the evening was quite pleasant. We decided to play hand, knee and foot and while I was ahead going into the final 4th round, she pulled it out once again as I could never get one of the 5 required books, oh well. It was almost 10, so I hit the shower and was soon ready for some horizontal lab shortly there after, LATER

Wednesday Morning July 16th

 Well Tuesday saw us with some dryness despite thunder and the threat of rain with dark clouds, but none fell on us for a change. The gardens and yards are thriving with all this wet weather and hotter than normal temps. It was a work day once again for me and I love it. More on those chores later in this post.

I started the day much the usual with a before 6 rollout to my routines that start with some quiet moments to honor my lord, Jesus, give thanks for another day and to lift up several by name for comfort, safety and healing. Our son Bobby and family are off with Katie's family in Europe mainly the Scandinavian countries on a cruise and daughter Amy and family are in Tennessee visiting with Tyler's families from Kansas. All other seem to be holding with this post. Amy and family will be back tomorrow for a couple days before returning back to Florida and taking Rocky, I'm not sure when Bobby and family return back to the states.

I headed out after making this post and several social media posts to stretch on the back porch before walking around checking on the gardens which are doing quite well with no deer damage thus far. I'm sure hoping its because of these deflector devices that emit a bright light and a high pitch noise when anything moves within a 100 feet and are charged by the sun. After a light breakfast of fresh picked wine berries in a bowl of instant oatmeal with some cinnamon, banana, honey and pecans I headed out to work outside the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon. I turned over by hand with a shovel where I had my two rows of butter crunch lettuces growing after harvesting the last head as I get that area ready for future transplanting of some black seeded lettuce seedling that I sowed from seeds and now have added a couple leaves. I'll give them another day before setting them out in the upper garden. 

I tuned over by hand a spot down below the cabin where I had planted extra tomato plants last year for some potato's seedlings that are coming up from potato peels that I had planted in the garlic bed which have now been harvested and I have October beans in that patch as well. I'll transplant these 'tatter seedlings in a couple days as they mature in hopes of getting some red 'tatters in the Fall. I harvested more yellow squashes and cucumbers as well and the half runner beans are about 7 foot tall now, as they have climbed up the bean poles to where I'll have an easier time harvesting them when they mature.

I did a little chain saw work with some down limbs in the wine berry patch and on the backwoods yards from last winter storms and then started a burn pile which burned for a several hours. I thought sure the threat of rain would end that event but it held off until some time over night when I noticed this morning after putting Rocky out first thing the gravel was wet. Its also foggy with a low ceiling this morning.

Nancy had a ham bone which we had frozen after preparing a large ham a couple weeks ago for a family whose father was very ill and did eventually pass. She made a huge pot of pasta fagioli soup which was excellent for our supper and I have enough for several lunches as well. I'm sure when Amy and family get here they will have some as well. I kept busy adding downed limbs and brush to the burn pile for a couple hours as I cleaned up the backwoods yard of the debris and I still have a couple other areas that need some chain saw work before making another burn pile which I will do later as the weather cools off. It was down right hot and I sweated out my shirt despite the threat of rain with clouds.

After supper we walked Rocky around the yards on a leash as Nancy was determined he wasn't running off again to the top of the mountain or down to Gerald's who was up with his dog, Boo. Rocky is stubborn when he sets his mine to taking off and she doesn't want to worry about him, so he will be confined to our yards until his master get backs tomorrow and then he can run the property and woods, oh well.

After dark I settled into the All Start MLB game for a couple innings then hit the shower and was ready for some horizontal lab at 10'ish. I was whupped from the work outside in the heat and the a/c felt great as we turned it on in the evening, LATER 

Tuesday Morning July 15th

Well this month is just about half gone and where did it go so fast. I started the day with my usual before 6 rollout to my routines that begin with some quiet time to honor my lord, Jesus, give thanks for another day and to lift up several by name for comfort and healing, all seem to be holding with this post. I headed out after this post and my social posts to stretch on the back porch before checking on the gardens and harvesting once again, some yellow squashes and cucumbers. Things are starting to look up with these daily showers which has everything growing and greening up as well.

I did transplanted a dozen or so of the black seeded Simpson lettuce seedlings into the backwoods patch and then I did some fertilizing around some of those plants in that patch as its a new patch. So far the squashes are doing great there and the couple of tomato plants are setting fruit but its been a poor soil patch as I built it up with compose. The half runner bean plants are climbing and one bunch is over 6 foot tall already. I need to pick wineberries today as they are ripening and falling off the vines.

We headed out a little before 10 for Galax and Walmart to get the oil change in the truck but there was a two hour wait so we decided to just shop at three different venues before heading home around 1'ish where we had a late lunch of a smoked turkey sandwich and some chips and pickles. For supper we had some black beans and jasmine rice with the last of the snapper filets which were awesome. I piddled around on the internet watching our Potus Trump deliver a speech to the christian business folks at the white and remark on how he is attempting to bring GOD's influence back into our culture as he himself is a total Believer that GOD saved him to MAGA. I totally believe this myself and support his policies and ideology to bring America back from the dead. It's such a shame the other party is run by radicals who believe just the opposite and care about one thing and thats control of our lives with power using the government. Such a shame they are so anti-American with their platforms of; abortions at will, men in women's sports, open borders and free everything including health care for illegals and higher taxes as well as supporting Hamas to kill Israel. Despicable leadership in that party who are being exposed as crooks.

We got another hard rain shower in the afternoon and then again just before dark. We took a golf cart ride to the top and met the new land owner who purchased an acre across the back woods road and has a small mini cabin on it. He is a young feller and eventually plans on building a cabin there and he was selling his mini excavator which he used to clear out a spot for his small shed which he is using for storage at present, but he has a grill and a few other things stored there. We headed on top to see if anyone was around and it was closed up tight. One neighbor on top sent us a message to harvest his blueberries and anything in his garden as they will be gone to Italy for about 3 weeks, so we will check on the place and use anything ready for harvesting or give it away as our garden is coming in.

We settled in to hand, knee and foot for a couple hours until shower time at 10'ish and Nancy was on as she won both games. It wasn't long after the loss I hit the shower and was ready for some horizontal lab around 10:30, LATER

Monday Morning July 14th

 Well Sunday was a bit different as we did no corporate worship except for two services on line with Cornerstone in Leesburg and then later with our home church at Starkey Road in Seminole as Nancy's tummy wasn't all that great and didn't want to take the chance of it getting upset again, especially after Saturday nights events. We eventually ate lite for breakfast due to her tummy issues which did great the rest of the day so either it was a combination of salads, Swiss chard and fried fish or one of these caused her so much commode time, but she is great for now.

We didn't do much the rest of the day except I did my morning routines that begin with some quiet times to honor my lord, Jesus, give thanks for another day and to lift up several by name for comfort and healing. All seem to be holding as is Nancy. We actually took a hike up our steep back trail after supper because Rocky took off and headed up that way and would not answer the call for him after about 30 minutes, so off we went, calling for him, but eventually he came back huffing and puffing his usual breathing noise, oh well Nancy was furious with him, but Tyler said not to worry as he will come back when he decides to as he is a people person dog. Nancy is afraid some one on top will steal him or a bear will get him which I doubt very seriously, that anyone who doesn't know the animal will try to steal this big goof, oh well that caused some serious discussions; like I can control this dog who has a mind of his own and goes down to the neighbors yard and just will not come when you call him while looking at you. He is stubborn and hard headed so now he will be held to in our yards only, right.

We played cards out on the front porch after a lite lunch for a couple hours as the temps and the breeze were excellent and then towards dark we played two games of hand, knee and foot since I whupped her big time the first game after two rounds, she came back in the second game and won on the last round. It was 10'ish before we finished and I hit the shower and got ready for some horizontal lab around 11:30. We watched the Ray's lose again and dropping in the standing like pregnant concrete ballon, oh well its just at the mid point of the season and they still have a chance with 4 all star players this season.

 I did harvest my first cucumbers of this season and we had one on my salad that accompanied a frozen pizza for our supper. Needless to say it was delicious and now I have several more in stages of maturing along with several yellow squash. The jalapeno's are maturing and the plants are really setting fruits as well. We did get another nice rain during the afternoon which continues to keep me from having to hand water the gardens. The marigolds are setting flower heads as are a couple zinnias, all of these we sowed from seeds when we got here in May. The flower beds that are perennial are gorgeous with their beautiful blooms and now the Rose of Sharon small trees are in fill bloom which the humming birds and bees love.

Today we will head to Galax, Va. as I want to get the oil changed in the truck and Wal-Mart usually does a good job and then we will do some shopping while there, as next week after Amy's family leaves we will head up the valley to Woodstock to visit with the baby sister Dee and Mike for a long weekend, LATER

Sunday Morning July13th

 Well Saturday was a work day that started out with a before 6 rollout to my routines that begin with some quiet moments to honor my lord, Jesus, give thanks for another day and to lift up several by name for comfort and healing. I need to add Nancy's name as she picked up a bug that left her on the commode for several hours after supper last evening. Hopefully her tummy calms down enough we can attend church this morning, oh well. 

I headed out after a breakfast of bacon, eggs and toast with some apple butter I headed out to check on the gardens and flower beds and so far no deer damage. I'm hoping its because of those devices that are motion detected and that is keeping them away as a neighbor mentioned the deer have eaten all of her blooming lilies and she is fighting mad, oh well. I fired up the weed eater and started on the back woods area as it was in the shade and finally finished after a couple of hours which wore me out walking up and down this hilly yard. It sure looks good and I did some areas I hadn't done since we got here.

Nancy had clothes on the line and just as we sat down to eat it started raining so we had to get them in and put them in the dryer and then the rain stopped and it never rained again all evening, but the threat was there with some thunder but no rain which was good, since we've had over an inch the past couple of days. The gardens are starting to produce as I harvested a huge mess of Swiss chard for our supper along with some Mangrove snapper filets our dear friends in Seminole gave us before we left in May. He caught them in the gulf and froze them and they were delicious to say the least. We had a garden salad for our lunch with all the leafy greens coming from my planting in May. I had harvested fresh lettuces, beet greens, kale and Swiss chard with some fresh basil and wow what a delicious salad. I have a cucumber ready for harvesting as well and I did harvest a nice yellow squash.

Not much to write about as I took the afternoon basically off and checked on the world news and read for a spell and then cat napped on the porch. The temps were quite nice which made for having the cabin open until the evening when Nancy started having her tummy issues which went on for a couple hours. I watched the rays lose again in Boston and they have now dropped another place in their division, oh well, LATER

Saturday July 12th

Well Friday was a work day around the cabin, yards and gardens and the weather was great despite at times showing some rain clouds and thunder in the distance, but none fell so we are drying out after the inch or so the past couple of days and the temps stayed in the upper 70's and no humidity, so no a/c until night fall when we close up the cabin, plus Rocky likes the a/c at night.

I started the day with my usual before 6 'ish rollout to my routines that begin with some quiet moments to honor my lord, Jesus, give thanks for another day and then to lift up several by name for comfort and healing, all seem to be holding with this post. I headed out after my internet news and social media posts to stretch on the back porch before checking on the gardens and flower beds for deer damage and thus far none, thankfully. Lots of things maturing and I ate a jalapeno from the upper garden which was the first thing the deer ate off last summer and then harvested a nice yellow squash with plenty more coming on in the next few days and probably a cucumber today as they too have plenty ready to pick. I harvested my last mess of lettuces which turned out beautifully this year, so much so I've given away to neighbors several times and kept our salad bowl full for weeks. I have several new seedlings of black seeded Simpson lettuces all most ready to transplant, once they get an additional leaf I will set them out in the garden proper.

I did some hoeing as well as moved the two egg plants into a different area of the backwoods patch and they had nice roots finally and I do believe they will make despite both nearly dying as seedlings. I staked my half runners in the back yard patch with tall bean poles so they can start running as well. I did harvest my first beet greens and kale for the salad bowl and added some Swiss chard to it as well. I now just need ripe tomato's but they are at least a couple weeks out despite their size for ripening. When they do I'll have plenty to share with neighbors.

I kept busy outside until lunch time when we cleaned up so leftovers and then we finished them for supper, so this evening for supper we will have some fish we have in the freezer from the Gulf of America our neighbors in Seminole blessed us with before we left. The last mess they gave us fed up for two meals and a lunch. After lunch and checking on the war with Israel I piddled around doing some small chores and then cat napped on the front porch while reading which makes me sleepy, especially after eating. I watched the press conference with Trump in Texas and he and his administration are on the ball when it comes to helping those in need. What a great potus and leader we have after the last failed corrupt administration and now we are seeing where several are guilty of treason as they attempted to take down his first administration.

After supper and the cleanup we walked around the yards and even hit the badmitton birdie a few times before calling it quits. That gave Rocky a reason to run around outside eating grass like a cow while we played. He is a weird dog and strong headed but such a nice animal for his size and oh my what a snorer all the time. I tuned in to the Ray's game on the internet and they blew it in the last inning giving up the long ball in a walk off win for the Sox. They are still in contention but its not looking good after winning for several weeks, oh well. I soon hit the shower and some horizontal lab shortly there after around 10:30, LATER

Friday Morning July 11th

Well Amy and family left before lunch and made it safely to Tennessee where they will spend a week with Tyler folks and family and the cousins will have a grand reunion. We are dog sitting Rocky who loves it here at the cabin and is quite happy, although he was into their leaving thinking he was going with them. We put him in the basement before they pulled out and he just laid around the rest of the day and evening as we went to our couples Bible class and was gone for 3 hours or so.

I had started the day with my usual before 6 rollout and routines that begin with some quiet times to honor my lord, Jesus, give thanks for another day and to lift up several by name for comfort and healing, all seem to be holding with this post. I headed out while everyone was still in the sack to stretch on the back porch before walking around the yards and gardens checking on any deer damage and how the garden was progressing and maturing. No deer damage but did see where the little green worms were attacking my kale plants so I sent a few of them to packing under my thumb and then tore off the leaves they had damaged. The cucumbers and yellow squash are a day away from harvesting and the 'maters are now as large as tennis ball and should start ripening. The jalapeno's are large enough to harvest as well and of course the leafy greens need harvesting once again.

Nancy had a huge breakfast for everyone before they hit the road. The big issue for the Ross family was no syrup for the pancakes, so everyone who originally wanted the cakes now changed their minds but I saved the meal as who ever put the syrup away had it hidden in the cupboard. Anyhow we had link sausage, pancakes and eggs which held me the rest of the day until 4'ish when we had leftovers before heading out to Sparta around 6'ish for our class. I had loaded up several sacks of garbage for the landfill which stays open on Thursday's until 7'ish, so we made a run there before heading to the class. The class was short this meeting with only 8 in attendance whereas there is usually 12 or more at times. It was close to 9 before we broke up and headed home. I made a stop for gas at 2.84 a gallon and then some non ethanol for the golf cart which is more expensive, but we should be good for another several weeks before heading to Virginia the latter part of this month to visit with family.

Rocky was happy to see us when we got back to the cabin and I soon hit the shower and checked on the Ray's game which they lost in Boston. I then read for a spell on a true WW11 story about the Great Escape from a German prison camp which a movie was made about these daring captured airmen and soldiers. Its a great read, LATER

Thursday Morning July 10th

 Well Wednesday saw us with some different weather as the day started with clear skies but by the afternoon a thunder storm came in a dropped a half inch of rain and then it cleared off and then again at nightfall another storm came in a dropped rain for a couple hours. Not sure about the amount with this last rain but we should be caught up for awhile. The grass and gardens are loving this rain. Also Tyler and Sam got back during the afternoon just before the first storm came through with lightning and thunder for what seemed like an hour or more. They were excited to share their 3 night and 4 day hike on the Appalachian  Trail with us.

I started the day with my usual before 6 rollout to my routines that begin with some quiet times to honor my lord, Jesus, give thanks for another day and to lift up several for comfort and healing. All seem to be holding with this post. I soon headed out to check on the gardens after stretching on the back porch before doing the walk around. Everything looked great with no evident deer damage. I did notice the cucumbers are finally starting to mature as are the yellow squashes and the tomato's and the jalapeno peppers. I gave away some oregano plants to the Cardona's and Heglar's, both neighbors as I separated part of my huge plant as it was getting just too large for my one small bed. It is ever present and does well despite the winters here.

I piddled around outside in the gardens and yards after a breakfast of fruit and cereal as I knew we were eating large this evening. I had two racks of ribs thawing for the smoker later in the day and we nearly devoured both rack at supper along with oven taters, half runner green beans and corn on the cob. This morning I will harvest leafy greens for the salad bowl as we finally emptied the bowl from the last harvesting and cleaning. Nancy also had fresh baked cookies for dessert which I passed on.

Amy and family leave this morning after breakfast for Tennessee to meet with Tyler's folks, his sister's and their kids. It should be a fun time as they get together for a week. We will keep Rocky while they are gone and then when they get back they will be here for a couple days before heading back to Florida next weekend. We will entertain Rocky as he is a big goof ball dog and not a mean bone in his body, despite his size. He and Nancy are snoring buddies. He just loves roaming around here and at times will slip off into the woods on a foray chasing smells. 

Well after supper and before the next long rain came we got in a couple games of badmitton which the grands like and we have enjoyed as well. Nancy sat this session out as we did it almost immediately after supper and she needs to digest, but since Tyler and Sam were back we had a good work out. We decided to play a family game called Neanderthal Poetry and at first it looked to be difficult but eventually we all loved it and especially Eliza who at first balked but soon became the most involved and wanted to keep going. I think the girls scored the most points for the win. I soon hit he shower and was ready for some horizontal lab immediately afterwards around 10'ish, LATER

Wednesday Morning July 9th

 Well Tuesday was another work day as the girls all headed to Sparta to shop so I stayed back with Rocky and got several small chores done mainly in the gardens and yards. I started the day with my usual before 6 rollout to my routines that start with some quiet moments to honor my lord, Jesus, give thanks for another day and then to lift up several by name for comfort and healing. All seem to be holding with this post. I headed out to stretch and then to walk the property to check on the gardens for any deer damage and thus far the devices seem to be working.

The gardens are do quite well despite no rain now for close to a week, so I'm hand watering daily in the early mornings and so far everything looks great. I did harvest another couple heads of lettuces and took them to the top of the mountain for neighbors up there. I have have several small cukes and yellow squash's that will be ready for the salad bowl and the pot in the next day or so. The lettuce seedlings I transplanted are doing well as they added another leaf yesterday and the October beans are up and doing well. I built a fence for them to grow up on as well, plus it helps when harvesting them as it a back breaking job.

The grand girls are picking wine berries daily and are enjoying then right off the vine and even in their pan cakes. They all were gone for a couple hours checking out all the shops and having a good girls time together in Sparta. This evening Tyler and Sam head home after their hike on the trail. We have been playing badmitton every evening after supper until the bugs get so bad you can stand it any longer. Rocky has found a hole in the ground down out of the garden which is probably a critter hole and digs in it every evening while we play. The girl are having a good time together, cooking and taking golf cart rides. I'll smoke a couple racks of spare ribs this evening for our supper and then they all leave Thursday for Tennessee except for Rocky. They will be gone for a week before coming back for a couple days here and leave on Sunday for Florida.

I watched the Ray's lose again and its terrible pitching from the bull pen after being ahead in every game they have lost recently, oh well. I hit the sack around 10'ish to get a head start on Nancy's snoring and now Rocky's, he is a huge snorer all the time, LATER

Tuesday Morning July 8th

Well Monday was another busy fun filled day with a little gardening thrown in for good measure and temps were nice until the early evening when we turned the a/c on for the night. It looked like rain a couple times with over cast skies but maybe a dozen sprinkles one time or two, but not enough to wet the rocks in the driveway. I did harvest several heads of lettuces and took them to different neighbors and I still have a couple heads to use up as well.

I started the day with my usual before 6 rollout to my routines that start with some quiet moments to honor my lord, Jesus, give thanks for another day and to lift up several by name for comfort and healing, all seem to be holding with this post. I headed out to check on the gardens for any deer damage and thus far they have either not been hungry or the deer devices are working. I'm hoping its the latter as they have been eating my neighbors flowers who are located through the woods.

I hand watered the gardens before any harvesting and noticed the squashes are showing lots of fruit on the yellow ones and now the zucchini's are showing some as well. Everything is growing great and I'm thrilled we will soon have cukes as well. The beans are climbing the poles and the peppers are setting fruit as well. Nancy and the girls all went to Galax for shopping in the small old ton section and seemed to have a good time as well as lunch out.  It was going on 3 before they got back at the cabin after leaving around 10. I dog set Rocky who was no problem and he slept most of the day. I read and did some internet reading as well as checked on Israel through out the day.

Nancy made a delicious pot of zuppa soup for our supper and we all chowed down and then we headed out to the badmitton area down below the yard and got in a good workout, despite the gnats and bugs which were out in force. I worked up a good sweat before we called it a night as Rocky was a pest at times running in an out trying to steal the birdie. We called it a day for being outside and headed into the a/c as it was quite warm and humid. I tuned into the Ray's game in Detroit and they lost as they are now on a 4 game losing streak, oh well. I soon hit the shower and was out by 10'ish. Amy and these girls are not into game playing for some reason. Tyler and Sam are still on the hoof on the Appalachian Trail and hope to be back at the cabin tomorrow evening by supper time, LATER

Monday Morning July 7th

 Well Sunday was a bit different as we skipped corporate worship due to the Ross Family arriving the day before and then Tyler and Sam took off for a 4 day hike adventure on the Appalachian Trail starting at White Top Mountain not too far from Sparta. They had hiked other areas over the years but not this segment. The weather thus far has been extremely nice for them and it was quite cool here at the cabin this morning with some overcast. It eventually cleared off and warmed up by lunch time and was really quite nice the rest of the day. We even had the a/c off until dusk when we all came in from bad mitton after supper. We put Rocky in the cool basement several times during the day as he gets so hot from all his activities. We even took a hike ourselves up the back trail and across the mountain top before supper and finally got Nancy to hike and get some exercise besides being in the kitchen cooking and cleaning.

I did my morning routines that begin with a 5'ish rollout and then some quiet moments to give thanks for another day and to lift up several after honoring my lord, Jesus with some prayers and thanksgiving for another day for bringing Amy and Family here safely and for Tyler and Sam on their hike as they left the cabin early around 6:30. They will be back on Wednesday and then the whole family leaves on Thursday for Gatlinburg to stay a week with his family. We will keep Rocky while they are gone. They will be here for another couple days before heading back to Florida that weekend.

I did some transplanting while wearing a flannel shirt as it was that cool to start the day. I turned the a/c off first thing each morning and let in the fresh cool air but after awhile I closed the windows as it must have been in the upper 40's. I of course did my early morning walk around the gardens to check for any deer damage and found none, so the devices seem to be woking, Thankfully thus far. I now have new lettuce seedlings in a pot that needs to be moved up into individual 6 packs and now October beans have broken the ground and are adding leaves as well. The half runner bean plants are running up the bean poles in the upper garden and now I'll need to add poles to the ones in the back yard patch.

The yellow squash has set several and the tomato's on every plant which are 10 in number has set fruit as well and some are tennis ball size. I'm really shocked that everything is looking so good as we were dry for awhile and now I'm back to hand watering once again unless we get some rain from the storm on the east coast. I did transplant some flowers I had started from seeds and some I moved up into pots a couple weeks ago into the circle drive bed. I'm hoping to get a good stand of both wild flowers and perennials in that bed. The wild flower seeds from Burpee didn't seem to do much so I sowed another pack much less expensive I had ordered from a different seed company with free shipping. I have the bed in pretty good shape as it used to be hard as concrete and full of rocks.

Well Amy, Ava and Eliza just love the ambiance here and a good time enjoying the fresh cool air as did Rocky who at times wonders off into the woods finding different critter smells and defies Nancy when she calls for him. He is like a brat child as he does his usual mountain time forays into the woods. She is afraid a bear will get him or he will become lost. Already she is restricting him at times and he just does his thing, its so funny. We had tacos for supper with refried beans and all the fixen's and then sat outside on the picnic table eating. I took Eliza and Ava down below to the bad mitton area while Nancy and Amy cleaned up and then we wore each other out. Ava is really good and Eliza is getting better each day. I was plumb wore out by dark and hit the shower and then some college baseball before calling it a night around 9:30.

The girls are off shopping in the big town of Sparta today and then Galax tomorrow so I will dog sit Rocky and catch up on some gardening chores, plus I'm a lousy shopper and would be no fun on a trip with 4 females, LATER

Sunday Morning July 6th

Well Saturday was another beautiful day with great temps for when the Ross Family arrived around 2'ish after a 4 AM start from Seminole, Florida. They made great time on their trip and got here a couple hours before we anticipated their arrival and from then on it was activity around the cabin with Rocky leading the charge. He did settled down for the night after running up and down the hills and peeing on everything in site around the property.

I started the day with my usual before 6 rollout to my routines that begin with some quiet moments to honor my lord, Jesus, give thanks for another day and to lift up several by name for comfort and healing. All seem to be holding with this post. Steve wrote me note and wanted to hike so I headed down the driveway and met him at his place and we did the long hike to the top of the mountain. It was nice and cool to start the morning with temps in the low 60's.

I was busy getting the garden protected from when Rocky made his rounds and then did some other chores as we made our last minute duties as we got ready for the Ross Family. Nancy was busy in the kitchen baking a pie and making a salad as well many small chores before they arrived. I grilled rib eye steaks for our supper along with corn on the cob, oven tatters an apple pie with ice cream for dessert. We did teach Amy and Tyler hand, knee and foot and did one round before supper with guys beating the gals. Afterwards we all played some bad mitton until dark and then it was show time. That was about it for the day, LATER

Saturday Morning July 5th... Daughter Amy and Family arriving from Florida

 Well Friday was an eventful day that started early and ended late with tons of fun in between the 5'ish roll out and the horizontal lab around 11'ish. More on that later as I was up early to start the day with some quiet moments to honor my lord, Jesus, give thanks for another day and to lift up several by name for comfort and healing. All seem to be holding with this post. I headed out to check on the gardens after posting this ramble and checking up on all the news and social media posts and its looking like America is back with the passage of this OBBB(one big beautiful bill) which goes to show US(A) that not a democrat voted to save America. That party is now endorsing high taxes, illegal immigration, killing babies, all forms of sexual sin, men in women's sports and even a communist running for mayor of one of the biggest cities in the country. What has happened to the party that I was once a part of when Kennedy was the potus. Its sickening and sad and I have family and friends who still support this bunch of misfits who have been exposed time and time again of trying to destroy the nation from within and who are full of the TDS.

Our dear friends Steve and Sheri and their son Jason and family is visiting here from Michigan and we decided to meet up with them in the morning for a hike to the top of the mountain. It was a perfect day for that adventure for them as Steve and I showed them the area. Nancy and Sheri stayed back. We took a nice hike and the weather was perfect with temps in the 70's. The 4 grands ranging in ages of 11 to 14 did great and had a wonderful time as well as it was the first time in a couple weeks I made the long hike. The views were awesome but rather hazy down below the mountains. It was uneventful with no wild life in the picture. Nancy has everyone afraid of the bear which we haven't seen thus far and is her big excuse for not hiking daily.

After they left for their place I did some honey-do's as we are getting ready for the Ross Family this evening and of course for the cook out later in the afternoon. Well the temps were so nice we moved a picnic table to the back porch and played a full game of hand, knee and foot with a break for supper in between the 3rd and 4th hands. I grilled burgers and dogs and Nancy had Cole slaw and baked beans plus chips and then after the game we had black raspberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream for dessert which was excellent to say the least.

Well we started the 3rd round on the game and the guys were up 7 k points going into the final round and the girls came back with doubling up on some of their big required books and whupped up like a redheaded step child. We didn't even count the points for the final score but Jason and Michelle picked up on the game quickly and so the scoring in wins were for the gals vs guys were 1 and 1. I was hoping they could stay another day and play because we really enjoyed their company and the 4 grands had tons of fun as well playing card games, badmitton and hide and seek. We took off around 8'ish for the football field in Sparta and watched a ton of fireworks set off by the city at dark. We met some of Jake and Katelyn's new friends and their children which is great for them plus they meet weekly and eat together and play games. Their kids are close in ages as well.

Well after getting back to the cabin we said our good nights and I soon hit the shower and was out for the night. Great fun and delicious eatin' as well as great fun and fellowship, LATER

Friday Morning July 4th

Well Thursday started out much the usual with my 5'ish rollout to my routines that begin with some quiet moments to honor my lord, Jesus, give thanks for another day and to lift up several by name for comfort and healing. All are holding with this post. I headed out to check on the gardens after my social media and news updates on the lap top and found where a deer had walked through one flower bed munching on some plants, this bed was not covered by one of the deer deflectors so last night I moved one from one of the garden patches to cover this flower bed. The deflectors seem to be working on the rest of the gardens so far, but time will tell when they start to smell all of the goodies I'm growing.

We had avocado toast for our breakfast which has become a favorite of ours and then we headed to Sparta to run some errands one of which was to the landfill, then the bread store and next Food Lion and finally a stop at the meat market. It was a little after lunch when we got back to the cabin after stocking up for the Ross Family who arrive tomorrow, Saturday. The fridges and freezers are full once again as well as are the pantry's. I had seen neighbor Mike on the way out to town and picked up their garbage to take with us and made arrangements for after lunch to wire the generator plug- in box for when and if we need power in the future like last year when the hurricane came through leaving us in the dark for days.

I bought a 13000 BTU generator but needed to have a plug in on the power box in the basement and so Mike who had wired his unit himself helped me after I bought a breaker, electrical cord and plug-in outlet. Once my company leaves I will fire up the generator as it has never been run before. Mike did an outstanding job and I never could have done it with out his skill and knowledge in installing this outlet into my breaker panel. That job took about 2 hours to complete and now I'm all set in case we lose power. I decided after an early supper as we were thinking about having the Nymark gang over for cards to fire up the riding mower and mowing all but the back woods yards. That took a good hour and half to complete and I just finished minutes before they were to arrive at 7'ish. Well we had a fun time and their 4 grands entertained themselves playing badmitton and kid card games as well as running around the yards. We adults settled into hand, knee and foot and the guys destroyed the gals after being behind in the first round, so much so we never played the last round. It was a fun time and the newbies picked up on the game right away.

Well it was after 9 and they had been on the river for a 10 mile float which was disaster at times as the river was up after the rain the past couple of days and they were in kayak's which kept taking on water and Sheri at one time was in the water for a couple miles until they could get out and drain the water from the kayak. They were making memories, no doubt, but survived the ordeal and now laughed about the ordeal. Well I soon hit the shower and was in the horizontal position at 10'ish as I too was whupped from all the activities. Today Friday we will have a cookout with them and then head to Sparta for fireworks and meet up with the Frankis Family and I'm sure play cards in the afternoon as well, LATER

Thursday Morning July 3d

 Well Wednesday was a stay at the cabin day except for a golf cart ride out to the mail box before lunch to check on the mail and a short visit with neighbors going and coming at the Heglar's and Patrick's. We met the daughter of Bob and Mary who has moved back home for now. The rest of the day was minor projects except for a new method of washing and waxing the truck and that was using some RainX which I had bought for the shower doors in the Seminole house and it just didn't work out there and I noticed Billy on top of the mountains was using it on his car, so I thought I'd give it a try and I like it and it did a good job thus far on the truck. I did do some weeding and transplanted the two egg plants into a different area of the backwoods patch after bring them back to life.

I started the morning with my usual 5'ish rollout to my routines that begin with some quiet moments to honor my lord, Jesus, give thanks for another day and to lift up several by name for comfort and healing. On a sad note the family Nancy made a meal for last weekend, because the husband was not doing good passed away yesterday from his brain tumor. He was a great Believer and now there is no more suffering as he is with the Lord. We pray for comfort for the family that had several children all who are teenagers. Everyone else on our list seems to be holding. 

The weather has turned beautiful here with no humidity, bright sunshine skies and in the 70's, just about perfect with 60's to start the morning. We had the cabin open until close to bedtime when Nancy closes it up and turn the a/c on due to 'bear scare, oh well. I harvested more fresh lettuces from the gardens and cleaned them and made them ready for the salad bowl. I did harvest my first jalapeno pepper for my egg and sausage burritos for my breakfast. I noticed lots of small green tomato's are set and the newly sowed green beans are up as well and will need poles in the next couple of days. The yellow squash has several small ones set as well.

I piddled around in the zinnias bed hoeing and weeding it as well as transplanting some hollyhocks which came up from seeds. We did get another pack of perennial wild flowers seed delivered from Amazon and I sure hope these do better than the Burpee seeds which didn't seem to make, oh well. I did get up the small fence around the zinnia bed to thwart Rocky who gets here on Saturday for two weeks or so from running through it and now after mowing tomorrow I'll set up another fence around the back yard gardens to do the same.

I grilled chicken thighs for our supper and Nancy used up some red tater for fried tatters for our supper. I caught some kind of bug during the afternoon from either what I ate or something as I had some tummy issues. I'm wondering if the jalapeno which was the first I'd eaten in several days affected my tummy which usually never bothers me, oh well. The Ray's played in the afternoon and finally beat the A's after losing the first two games in close games. By dark I was ready for the shower and some horizontal lab time which occurred before 10, LATER

Wednesday Morning July 2nd

 Well Tuesday started out with clear skies and rather nice temps but as the day wore on it became quite cloudy and we saw our fair share of wet weather and as I'm making this post now, it raining. We certainly can use it as the forecast for the next several days are clear skies and no rain. The gardens and yards are loving this rain and of course warm to hot temps.

I started the day with my usual 5'ish rollout to my routines that begin with some quiet time to honor my lord, Jesus, give thanks for another day and to lift up several by name for comfort and healing. All seem to be holding with this post. I headed out after my morning routines on the internet to check on the gardens and yards for any signs of deer and thus far none, so just maybe the investments in those solar powered motion detectors are working. I've learned to keep the batteries charged by shutting them off during the day to recharge and then turn them back on over night.

The gardens are doing well all except the radishes which I must have sowed the seeds in the light of the moon because I got all tops and fruit, so I'll sow them in a week or so when then the moon starting waning. Believe me it makes a difference and radishes are the best example of sowing seeds according to the moon phases. Now with seedlings its a different story but with seeds the moon has an affect, oh well.

We headed to Sparta around 10:30 as Nancy had a hair appointment, after dropping her off, I headed to the local library for a couple hours and picked up 3 new reads one of which I got into about Panama's General Noriega and the Iran Contra ordeal during the Reagan presidency, very interesting as the story is told by the agent who was in Panama during the era. When we left the hair dresser beautiful place we stopped in down town for a lunch at the general store which was alright as I had a taco salad and Nancy a burger and fries. Its a little pricey for what you get as the portion on the taco salad was small but the burger and fries were great. I was hungry at supper time for a change after eating out, when for the same price across the street at the Pizzeria their meal lasts the rest of the day until morning, oh well.

Well we had a rain while in town and then again after getting back to the cabin and then again late evening and night and again this morning. I'm hoping that holds us for the next weeks forecast which is supposed to be dry and in the low 80's. Not bad but thats a little warm for here as the usual mean temps are in the upper 70's. I want to mow later this week and put up some fences to keep Rocky, our grand dog who comes for a couple weeks on Saturday, out of my gardens. Today Wednesday we stay home for a change but off to town on Thursday for some last minute shopping for the weekend and for daughter Amy and family's arrival on Saturday. We will celebrate the 4th on Friday with the Nymark Family who comes in this afternoon at their place and then for fireworks in Sparta Friday evening after a cook out at our cabin in the afternoon. Should be a busy fun filled rest of the week with us with some fine eatin'. I'm doing a huge pork butt on the smoker on Saturday so we should have plenty of pulled pork along with all the fixin's.

We played hand, knee and foot after supper and I was ahead until the last round when Nancy came from behind to win again in a close game. She is up 2-0 with just the two of us. I did have the Ray's game on in the back ground and they were leading at one time but blew it in the extra innings again, LATER

Tuesday Morning July 1st

Well Monday finally saw us with some rainfall, nothing to brag about, but enough so I don't have to hand water this morning and the temps were not quite as hot as it has been the past several days. We still run the a/c at nights and have it off during the day for the most part. I started the day with a well before 6 rollout to my usual routines that begin with some quiet times to honor my lord, Jesus, give thanks for another day and to lift up several for comfort and healing. Most all are doing as well as can be expected due to their ages and health issues. After day break and finishing my social media posts and checking on the war in Israel I headed out to check on the gardens for any deer damage. Thus far I do believe these devices are working.

After a semi mountain breakfast of eggs, grits, jalapeno pepper and a tomato I headed out to start my big project of the day and that was weed whacking the property which kept me busy for a good two hours plus and then I fired up the chain saw and headed up into the back woods for some new bean poles for the garden. I now have half runner beans up in the other patch and they will need poles in a couple weeks. I harvested my garlic plants which were starting to die and once again turned out with a nice bunch of heads and I have them drying under neath the porch. I'll save a few of the individual cloves and replant them in October but I will have enough for another year, plus I'll share some with Kathlyn who has a magnificent garden.

Well neighbor Anne called and was having an issue with and outside spigot so I headed over to help her and then took her some black raspberries Nancy picked while I was weed whacking. This spigot has a hole in the valve stem which I've never seen before and when you hook a hose to it the water sprays out but with out a hose it doesn't leak; thats a new one on me and she has been using it with a hose for a couple years and now all of sudden its leaking. I'm not sure how to fix it because to replace the spigot their is some major issues with how and where its located on their house and how to remove it and replace it with a different spigot, oh well. My idea was to use a watering can and not a hose until she has to do a major renovation or to JB Weld the hole shut.

Well I piddled around the gardens and yards after a lite lunch and then we got our orders from Amazon delivered by UPS so I sat outside on the porch catching on whats happening in the world until supper time which was early as we had our respective Bible classes in the evening. We had a nice 20 minute rain shower and then as we left for church the skies were dark with rain clouds and I do believe it rained while we were gone as well. I'll check the rain gauge later this morning.

Well I checked the Ray's game after getting back to the cabin around 9'ish and it was tied in the late innings but the closer for Ray's gave up two quick runs and they lost to Oakland 6-4, Oh well. Today we head to Sparta for Nancy hair cut and color and some shopping as Amy and family arrive on Saturday but before them arriving The Nymark's arrive with family on Wednesday and so we will have fun time as well as share meals with them and then a 4th cook out on Friday and fireworks in the evening. We will be busy the next week or so with friends and family and fun doings. I'll mow either Thursday or Friday and do have to put up fences to thwart Rocky for destroying my flower and garden beds, LATER