Sunday Morning Aug 31st

 Well August is about gone and with that the last supposedly month of summer weather, but really we have been having some Fall temps already and yesterday was another example of it. Cool mornings that cause us or Nancy to have the small faux fireplace on for a couple hours to take the chill off, but by noon the window and doors are open to warm temps with bright sunshine and blue skies. We had an outside "pig picken" on top of the mountain at 5 ish last evening and it was short sleeve and shorts weather and temps, but as evening progressed a lite jacket or sweater was needed by sundown. More on that later in this ramble.

I had started the day with my usual before 6 rollout to my routines that begin with some quiet times to honor my lord, give thanks for another day and to lift up several by name for comfort and healing. All are holding but I know some are severely hurting as I make this post, especially my nephew Brett. I did my morning news check and social posts before heading out to stretch on the back porch and the walk around the property checking for any new deer damage. There didn't seem to be any obvious extra damage and so just maybe they have had their fill of my gardens. They sure have eaten there many times this summer. After a lite breakfast of oatmeal, cinnamon, pecans and fresh blueberries and some molasses I headed out to do some small project in the yards. 

I loaded up the golf cart with some heavy digging tools and headed down to the lower yard. While mowing yesterday a root from a stump I burned and dug out last summer was interrupting my mowing and the another large rock was showing its face as well, so I decided to remove them completely and I did both of them and then hauled a load of dirt to fill in their holes as well as a couple low places in the backwood yard. That kept me busy until we decided to take off up the mountain on a hike.

The hike was uneventful but just absolutely beautiful with a warm breeze and just enough coolness in the air to keep the bugs away and you from sweating. We stopped and chatted with a few on top and could smell the pig in the huge roaster outside cooking which had been on since 5 AM. We came back and had a lite lunch before sitting on the deck and porches the rest of the afternoon reading and napping before loading up the golf cart with my corn hole boards, chairs and Nancy's mixed veggie casserole an chocolate cake which we took up the mountain to the "pig picken" that neighbor Billy and Pauline were sponsoring. There must have been 50 + folks there with all kinds of casseroles, salads and desserts folks brought to add to their pork. I wouldn't say it was the best pork I've ever had, but it was different as the whole pig was roasted and then pulled apart with the fat and skin included in the mix. It didn't have that usually great smokey flavor as when we do a butt on our small smoker, but it was good. The side dishes were excellent.

Several of us played lots of corn hole and made news friends with the game as most folks sat around the table. The sun was bright and warm as we sat on top visiting after eating until close to sun down. The sunset was brilliant with a fire ball of the sun as it sat over the mountain in the distance. We got back to the cabin at dusk and then I settled into one of the college games until half time. FSU beat Alabama for the first upset of the season and Clemson was winning against LSU when I hit the sack around 10'ish, LATER

Sarurday Morning Aug 30

Well Friday started out on the chilly side with another high 40's, but quickly warmed up to the low 70's by mid afternoon with lots of blue skies and bright sunshine, another near perfect day temperature wise. It was mainly a work day for me after a sleep in until 7'ish for a change. I did my usual quiet times to honor my lord, Jesus, give thanks for another day and then lifted up several by name for comfort, healing and a for a miracle for our young nephew Brett.  Everyone else seems to be holding with this post. I did head out on the porch after my morning updates on social media, checking the news and e-mails to stretch before walking around the yards checking for deer damage. I didn't notice a whole lot of new damage.

After a breakfast of an avocado, egg and toast dripped with olive oil I headed out to piddle around in the yards and doing some hand watering after harvesting a couple cucumbers which are just about gone as the vines were drying up, so I watered them and both of the main garden patches and harvest another bunch of plum 'maters whose vines are drying up as well. I did pick a huge mess of half runners beans that we gave away to three neighbors once we headed out in the golf cart to help another neighbor with some small chores. The bean vines which the deer haven't eaten are doing magnificently and still blooming so it they survive all of the deer eatings we should have plenty for another couple weeks to share and use ourselves. The large 'maters plants are also showing signs they are done for the summer as well. Hopefully I'll get another couple weeks of their producing.

We headed over to Anne and Franks to help remove some large junk items from here basement and took her a mess of beans as well. There was old stove pipe, water heater and dehumidifier which were all too large for her to handle and Frank is in no shape to do anything with his lung issues. I managed to remove all of these items from her basement and now she will have to make arrangements to have them removed to the landfill at a later date. We then stopped and visited with Mike and Linda and gave them a mess of beans for them and Elaine and then headed on up to the Bob and Mary's and blessed them with a mess as well. She in return gave us a jar of fig jam which I've never had. After visiting we headed out to the mail box.

It was a busy morning and now afternoon as I fired up the riding mower an mowed for the next two hours all of the yards. Wow does this piece of property look amazing and the smell of the fresh cut grass is perfume to my nose. It looks so beautiful with the grasses that have now filled in, especially in the backwoods yard where I use to battle with moss. The only area with still some moss is close to the blueberry bushes where I don't spread lime as they like acid soil and so does moss which I got rid of by using lime, oh well. The sun flowers are just loaded with 15 to 20 heads on one stalk and I have 6 stalks by the upper garden which the deer have eaten off the lower leaves. I grilled chicken thighs and Nancy used up some taters for mashed ones along with some chicken gravy and a can of peas for our supper. I of course added a couple plum 'maters to mine and a jalapeno.

After the clean up I headed out to walk the property and turn on my useless deer devices for the night before calling it a day outside. I tuned into the Ray's game on the internet and they were winning again for the second night in a row. Hopefully they will continue and make the playoffs. I hit the shower and read until lights out. Today, Saturday there is a pig picken' on top of the mountain that neighbor Billy is sponsoring for the neighborhood plus many of his friends as he is cooking a whole pig and folks are adding extras, should be a fun time with some fine eatin' and the weather is just about perfect for this event, LATER

Friday Morning Aug 29th

 Well Thursday started out on the chilly side with temps down in the low 50's but it eventually warmed back up to the middle 70's by day's end, with lots of sunshine and blue skies. It was a work outside for me until lunch time and then it was take the afternoon off reading and catching up on the war in Israel and refreshing some Bible study work for our couples class later in the evenings. We did get in a long hike to the top and I blessed Dave and Alicia with some fresh veggies on our hike. They are the couple who bought the old Browning residence and where we cut through on our golf cart to the top.

I started the day with a sleep in until nearly 7 for a change after a total work day on Wednesday. I did my quiet time to honor my lord, Jesus, give thanks for another day and to lift up several by name for comfort and healing and now I have to add another name for a nephew who is dire need of some healing. Nancy's brother Eric's first son who is just a few months older than our son Bobby has severe cancer of the liver and now pancreas. He has kept it quiet for several weeks and his younger sister, Arriane called us last night to give us the details and he is already planning his funeral with his dad who is a funeral planner in Michigan, so sad night. So pray for a miracle of healing for Brett. We learned he had several vaccine covid shots and boosters which I think is the culprit for this cancer issue as well as many other health issues with young folks dying.

I used my new work toy, mini hand held electric chainsaw and worked on lots of downed trees in the backwoods that were visible from the porch. Its perfect for breaking down small limbs up to about 4 inches and then I use the regular chain saw in sawing up the trunks. Those downed trees were sticking up and creating an eye sore to me but now they are flatten and covered up by small bushes in the woods. That kept me busy for a couple hours and then we got ready to hike the mountain. We did see another neighbor on top who has a very rustic cabin which has a grand view but he has let the shrubs and vines take over his front yard. He doesn't have anyone interested in the place as it was his mothers whom we knew for years. She and his wife have both passed and we see him maybe once a year if that. I told him to let me know if he ever decided to sell out as the view is a million dollar view. Any how we headed on across and spoke with several on top before heading down to see FedEX delivering a package to our place. The VA sent my eye drops in a cold refrigerated box with ice packs as I for the first time using them picked them up at the VA clinic.

We had a lite lunch of finishing up the zucchini bread Nancy baked a couple days ago. We gave the extra loaf away to neighbors and now I will head over to help one neighbor with some chores today. Not much on the agenda except I will mow later today or tomorrow as the grass is getting longer, especially in the backwoods yard which I haven't mowed in a couple weeks. I did harvest 2 nice zucchini's and 3 yellow squashed as well as some tomato's for the neighbor on top who let us pick their blueberries while they were away in Europe for several weeks. I grilled pork chops and we had fresh green beans out of the garden for an early supper before heading off to Sparta because of our evening couples class

We headed out around 5:30 to Sparta as I made a drop off at Allegheny Cares which is a thrift store as we cleaned out the hall closet and some items we had stored from when we did the renovation on the kitchen a couple years back and then headed to the landfill to dispose trash and garbage while Nancy was in Food Lion shopping for some items. I took a cooler for the items that needed to be kept cool while we were at our couples class. It was close to 9 before we broke up and headed home and got the news of Brett's decline on the way home. Nancy spoke with Arianne for a couple hours after getting home so I hit the shower and read until after 10, then it was lights out for me, LATER

Thursday Morning Aug 28th

Well Wednesday started out on the chilly side with upper 40's in some areas but with plenty of sunshine and blue skies. It was basically a work day for me, except for a hike and then a set down visit with Bertie on her front porch for an hour or more as it was the first time we have seen her this summer. She is a hoot and we love hearing her talk and her stories she shares. Her place is old and very musty but has a million dollar view on top of the mountain that we hike across, so we sat outside on her front porch and chatted before we headed back down to the cabin. We were gone for close to two hours.

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. I did head out side to stretch on the back porch before walking around checking on the gardens after adding and extra shirt and long pants, it was down right cold with the breeze. Well the insecticide must have worked because no deer damage to the seedlings in the circle drive and only some small leaves off of the sunflowers which are now close to 10 foot tall. They can only reach the lower leaves and they do that almost nightly as well as reaching inside them and the fence to eat some of the half runner bean vines.

After a breakfast of an avocado with an egg drizzled in olive oil and a piece of sourdough toast I headed out to use my new work toy and to weed whack the areas down below the gardens which had over grown with tall grasses but was full of down limbs. My new work toy is a hand mini chainsaw that runs on a battery and I love it. I used it to clean up three areas of downed limbs that were a mess along side the cleared areas where I usually don't traffic, but were an eyesore to me. It works great on small limbs that were too large for shrub clippers, but to small for a regular chainsaw. I then did some weed eating once I got those limbs out of the weeds and grasses. I still have several more areas in the woods I can see from the porch that needs cutting up and burned. I believe it we be a great tool when we start to clean out the ditch along side the driveway when neighbor Gerald comes up and we use his tractor to clear the ditch by using a chain and pulling the trees that are down and clogging the ditch.

I did some reading in the late afternoon after resting from all the work I did. We cleaned up all of the leftovers and even had a nice salad from the garden for lunch. We did watch live our mid week service from our local church in Seminole after supper that started at 7'ish. It went for an hour or so and then I checked the news and soon hit the shower. I was whupped and stiff after hiking the mountain, weed whacking and chainsaw work as well as weed whacking the steep back trail up to the back road. That trail in an of its self is a feat, especially when using a weed whacker and I did it twice during the morning.

I hit the hot shower and read until 9:30 then it was an extra blanket and I was out until 3:30 when I got to use the bathroom and then I slept in until after 7 this AM, yikes that was a first for me in many moons. I guess I was tired. This evening we head to Sparta to drop off some items at Allegheny Cares and then off to Food Lion for few items and then to our couples class at 7 PM, LATER

Wednesday Morning Aug 27th

 Well it sure feels like Fall has arrived with temps in the upper 40's in some areas around us and despite mainly blue skies and bright sunshine it stayed some where in the upper 60's to maybe a 70 if we were lucky. When the clouds covered the sun from time to time it got down right chilly with the breeze that was evident for most of the day. We basically stayed at the cabin except for a quick run in the golf cart to bless a neighbor(s) with veggies and a some zucchini breads after lunch which Nancy had made after breakfast from our garden, delicious.

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 for comfort and healing, all seem to be holding with this post. I did head out after my posting on social medias and checking on the world news to stretch on the back porch before checking on the gardens. Well did I ever get a nasty surprise when I found the deer had not only eaten all of the black eyed Susan seedling I transplanted yesterday but what they didn't eat they pulled out of the ground, plus more of the pole beans and beet greens in the back yard garden patch. They walked around the deer devices and ate their fill on those two gardens the most. So that was a waste of money on those devices, oh well.

After a breakfast of sausage and egg burrito's I headed out to put back the seedlings the deer had pulled out of the ground that still had roots and gave them a drink of water and then just before dark I sprayed them with an insecticide in hopes if they come back they will smell it and not be so easily tempted to eat them, anyhow really there isn't much you can do except sit up with a shot gun and pepper their rears with bird shot during the night. If push comes to shove I may do that one night just to let them know they are not wanted here, oh well.

Neighbor Bob came by as I was starting to transplant those seedlings the deer pulled out with a fresh baked loaf of sour dough bread that he and his sweet wife Mary made for us. I've been blessing them with fresh veggies all summer and they us with this bread we so enjoy. He stayed and visited for a few as his wife and her sister Kathy, all went to the beach for a couple days.  Kathy it staying with them for the summer and is another sweet lady. Bob has 3 females plus a female German Shepard all under the same roof, but he has a huge beautiful real log cabin in our neighborhood.

The rest of the day was doing some small outside chores until the late afternoon when we both sat in the sun to stay warm and read the afternoon away until suppertime which was another day of leftovers which all was delicious. I finished the read titled LUCKY 666 which is awesome story of courage and heroism  during WWII in the Pacific theatre with pictures of many in this story. After supper and the clean and a final walk around the yards and gardens turning on my now useless deer devices it seems, we played hand, knee and foot against each other. Well Nancy took the lead on the first event and I won the second but could never gain enough points to over come her 12 k point lead, when I was unable to get two of my required books which added up 8K points, oh well. I had been on a winning streak those few times we have played alone but that was stopped last night. I tuned into the Rays game afterwards and they lost 3-0 after winning the night before 9-0 against the Cleveland team, oh well.

Nothing new to report except the drastic change in the temps here in August which is supposed to be the last  month of summer weather until Fall and Winter arrive. I forgot to mention I sowed my garlic bulbs into the backwoods patch where the deer ate off all my radish seedlings, LATER

Tuesday Morning Aug 26th

 Well Monday the weather changed after some cloudy overcast rainy days the week before and we got our first real taste of Fall weather, at least it was bright sunshine and blue skies and a gentle breeze for most of the day. Nancy had the faux fireplace on which gives out enough heat to take the chill off the cabin. I actually donned long pants and a long sleeve shirt for most of the morning then changed around lunch time back to shorts and a T-shirt for our hike as it warmed up to the low 70's for a high.

I started the day much the usual with a 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 for comfort and healing, all seem to be holding with this post, except our neighbor Frank was in the hospital for an overnight stay as he is on oxygen 24/7. He has some lung issues and developed an infection but is now home, hopefully to recover. Everyone else seems to be holding with this post. I headed out after day light to check on the gardens for deer damage after stretching on the back porch. They ate off my radishes to the ground as well as more flowers and my beet greens, oh well. When your surrounded by the woods which is their home you must expect to lose some plants. I did harvest several plum tomato's as well as have new zucchini's on the way and the green beans will need picking in a day or two and the cucumbers have really slowed with the vines and many leaves turning brown, so I picked those leaves off and now new leaves are forming and I still have tons of blooms, so maybe I'll get more fruit. 

Neighbor Billy on top has been thinning out his beautiful black eyed Susan plants and gave me several seedlings as I mentioned I wanted to plant them in the circle drive as the two batches of wild flower seeds I sowed never really materialized, so he gave me several seedlings from his huge patches. Nancy wanted two of the butterfly bushes that I had planted in the circle drive a year ago and had spread greatly removed, so I dug them up and then replanted them along the backwoods garden patch. I then dug out a load of dirt and sowed some grass seeds along that area as well, which kept me quite busy until we decided to hike just before noon. Well I got up the trail to the top and was waiting on her to make the steps to the back road when her knees started hurting, so we turned around and headed back down, only to take the golf cart to the top as I was returning the container Billy had the seedlings in he gave me.

We headed out in the golf cart and stopped and chatted briefly with Russ the new land owner behind us who has a mini shed/ cabin who was doing some work around his place. He eventually wants to build there but for now visits the property. We headed on up the back trail to the top and visited with Billy and returned his container, when Ed and Carol and their large poodle named Stella came by on their 4 wheeler. We visited with them as well as its the first time this summer we had seen them. We came back down the golf cart trail and had a bite of lunch from the leftovers on Saturday night. I chilled for a few checking on the war in Israel while digesting then headed out to plant those seedlings into the circle drive. First I had to weed the area before planting the seedlings which had filled up with weeds and grasses. There may have been some wild flowers seedlings in the bunch that I pulled out and hoed up, but it was hard to tell from all the weeds and grasses. I planted close to 20 seedlings Billy had given me and he said if I needed more to let him know, but I think these if they all make will help with filling in that flower bed.

I sat and read awhile finishing up a Jack Reacher novel titled THE SECRET. Its a good read and filled with many twists as well. I now will start on a Louis L'amour western who I use to read all the time but found one I had missed reading. We were having our Monday night Bible class at Cornerstone so we ate lite once again with leftovers and headed out around 6:30 for the 7 o'clock class. Well it was after 9 before we broke up and headed home. I checked on the Ray's game and they were winning against Cleveland for a change in Cleveland. Hopefully they will make the playoff's as a wild card entry, but will need some help as the standing are now. I hit the shower and read on this non fiction WWII story titled LUCKY 666 which is a great read on the war in the pacific against the Japanese and how the USA turned the tide against them, a great history read with real hero's. It was lights out for me around 10:30, LATER

Monday Morning Aug 25th

Well Sunday was an awesome day of worship both here at the cabin before heading out to Sparta to hear two local missionaries speak of their rescue's of refugees from the muslim religion to christianity in Greece, more on that later. We heard Gary Hamrick from Leesburg, Va. first as we got ready for church. I had started the morning with my usual 6'ish rollout to my routines that begin with some quiet times to honor my lord, Jesus and give thanks for another day and then to lift up several by name for comfort and healing. Most all are holding but my newest addition to the list left this earth for eternity over night and Chris with be missed by so many, as he had close family at Cornerstone and thats where we got to know him and his beautiful family. He leaves behind 4 daughters and a new grandson plus his wife who is the sister of the wife of our pastor. We knew him and Melissa when their girls were but babies and now all are grown up and most are married with this new grand baby, so sad as he was only 58. Many missed diagnosis about the issues with his small intestine and when the real issues were know and exposed it was too late. Rest in Peace Chris in Jesus's loving arms and with no more pain.

We heard from Tim and Sandy Stampler who have made it their life's decisions to go out into the world and help spread the gospel first in China for many years but now with helping those who have been trapped in the evil ideology that muslims are indoctrinated into and where one Arab has made it his life's goal to help with all who want to leave it for christianity. He is wanted by these monsters for his work in the translation of the language to help with their escape as refugees to the country of Greece where these two missionaries now work several months of the year. We help in their cause with financial support as well as do many others. We have know their son who is now the lead pastor at their old church in the Sparta area and so Cornerstone and Grace Community are inter related in the community for Believers and to all who want to come to the knowledge of the gospel and make professions of faith.

After church we met up the Frankis Family for a delicious lunch of pizza and salad at the Pizzeria eatery. There was saw old friends Gerald and Kay Luffman as well as Brandon Crouse and his wife and in laws. Brandon called after lunch and wanted to come by for a visit around 3:30 after we got back from a early afternoon golf cart ride to the top where we met Alicia who and her husband are the new owners of the old Browning place. She showed us all the new improvements to both the small apartment and to the kitchen and bathroom in the main house. Both renovations are great improvements. They are "empty nesters" now that both of their kids are in college. Her husband was on a bike ride so we missed seeing him. We headed on across and saw Billy who gave us some black eyed Sudan seedlings from his giant bed of those gorgeous flowers. We headed back down as we wanted to watch the final game of the LLWS at 3'ish.

Well Brandon called just as we watched the first inning and the team from Taipei was ahead and eventually went on to shut out the team from Nevada 7-0 and they won the championship. Brandon came and stayed through the whole game which really was better than watching the USA team lose so badly. He brought some home made peach jam as well as some blueberry jam he and his wife Betty had made so we in exchange, blessed him with some of our black raspberry jelly. Brandon and his dad added the shower in bathroom up stairs a decade or so ago and have become friends ever since.

After he left we took some green beans from the garden as well as an items from last nights get together down to the Heglar's and visited with them for an hour or two before heading back up the mountain to the cabin where we ate some leftovers for supper and then settled into the series called "Chosen" on prime TV which we seldom watch despite us having it for all of our Amazon deliveries. Now I can watch the TNF on that station as well as I didn't know I had it before, when missing out on those football games. The regular season starts next week end I believe. I soon headed for the shower around 10'ish and called it a night afterwards, LATER

Sunday Morning Aug 24th

 Well Saturday started off wet with a lite rain, fog and cool temps but the humidity was like 95 % so while it was cool the dampness had us with the a/c on for most of the day to dry out the cabin, plus we were having 10 folks here for supper around 5:30. It has been another couple of days with no sunshine, oh well. I started the day with a before 6 rollout to my usual routines that begin with some quiet times to honor my lord, Jesus, give thanks for another and to lift up several by name for comfort and healing, all seem to be holding with this post. I did head out to stretch on the.back porch after the rain stopped but the fog was so heavy the water still dripped from the roof top. I did get to check on the gardens for deer damage but thankfully found none.

It finally stopped with the fog and lite rain around noon so I was out to pick blueberries and then eventually some green beans and harvested a nice mess of lettuces and cleaned all and then spun them dry before bagging them for the salad bowl and our burgers at supper time. The rest of the day was mainly cleaning the cabin and getting ready for our company. I did watch the LLWS games and the team we really pulled for on the USA side lost to the team from Nevada. Today they will play the international winner which was Taipei and they won by a score of 1-0 over Aruba. So much fun watching these kids who are 12 and under play in Pennsylvania.

Well I grilled burgers and dogs and Nancy made a delicious yellow squash casserole and our guest brought so much food as side dishes and appetizers. It was a raucous but friendly crowd as every one talked over each other as it seems many hadn't been together for ages and Kathy had never been to our place. She is visiting Bob and Mary(her sister) for the summer and is such a sweet lady, even Phylis and Gerald(neighbors) were able to come plus Grant and Shirley. The food was very tasteful and plentiful and after the cleanup we taught them hand, knee and foot. Gerald and Phylis walked back down to their cabin so it was 8 of us and we were able to play 2 rounds which the game is usually 4 rounds. Anyhow they got the jest of it and while the gals won the first round by a huge score we guys won the second round it just wasn't large enough to have the over all score for the win. It was going on 10'ish when everyone left for home and we did the final cleanup and I hit the shower.

I was able to give away lots of tomato's, cucumbers, squash and jalapeno's as well as blueberries. It has been a bountiful year from the gardens despite all of the rain which is maybe why its been so great. Today is corporate worship day and lunch out afterwards either at the Pizzeria or Mexican eatery. We have plenty of leftovers for the next couple of days from last nights get together, LATER

Saturday Morning Aug 23rd

Well Friday saw us with fog and a lite rain for most of the morning, enough so we were cabin bound for the biggest part of the day. It eventually stopped raining but the fog was forever present all day and evening, so that made for a soup day and a cleaning out a hall closet which took hours to say the least.

I started the morning with a before 6 rollout to my routines that always 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 as I've heard nothing to the contrary. I'm expecting some sad news on one associate as he is in rough shape and only a miracle will save him. The lite rain was steady so after all my morning routines I did head out onto the back porch to stretch which helps with these old muscles and ligaments that keep me upright. Nancy finally broke out of her sleep after daylight and we decided to due a chore we knew would take hours and it took all morning to clean out stuff that has been on those shelves for 25 years or more in the "closet".

I had a couple boxes set up for what we were donating to Allegheny Cares which is a thrift store, a box for the Frankis Family and a box for stuff we were throwing away. I filled all three boxes in no time and we found stuff we had no idea where it came from and from who. Some stuff went way back and at one time we wanted to keep it and some of the games had never been opened and some of the plaques were quite cabin perfect, but our walls are covered now as it seems folks love to bring them to add to our collection, so we donated many and pitched many as well. Lots of games we have never played were still in boxes and the assortment of bags for carrying food in whether hot or cold as well candles, etc needed to be sorted and distributed or thrown out. We got it done by lunch time and now we have a closet you can actually find the game you want or the large cooking utensil without tearing apart the place. We found a food processor thats never been used as well as an antique meat grinder I bought 20 years ago from Mast General Store, oh well.

I did find some old pictures from when we first built the cabin and many of the folks in them are now gone and some who once were part of the family. Lot of memories came out of that cleaning(it wasn't dirty per day) but cluttered with stuff, some we use daily and some never for decades, anyhow its a huge walk in closet but narrow with several deep shelves that was loaded with everything and is still our go to place today for items; you name it and it goes in there, oh well. The rain stopped some time after lunch but the fog lasted late into the day and we never saw the sun, but I did manage to get out and harvest some tomato's, yellow squash and a zucchini and then to walk around the property several times to get in some physical exercise. I got some while going up down the two sets of stairs from the basement to the second story several times throughout the morning and later afternoon. 

Nancy cleaned and made the beds upstairs after taking some coats from the "closet"which were worn only in cold weather and was another clogger when going into the closet. Now is the picture clear of what we were facing when tackling this narrow 15 foot deep closet, oh well. Now she wants to purchase a wrap around couch for extra seating for when the family comes next summer for my 80th. That means changing out the leather couch and love seat plus rearranging the living room which isn't that large. That means the faux fireplace will be gone as well as an old vintage table and many other hand made pieces of furniture that has been in the cabin since we finally finished it all for one week, when hopefully all of the family will be here, oh well. I'm not thrilled with this idea because we are seldom ever all in this one room at one time, and for just a week at most, oh well.

Nancy made her delicious soup for supper which is mainly veggies and chicken broth with tiny pasta's, not sure the name but we added fresh parsley and kale from the gardens and I added a fresh chopped up jalapeno` to mine which by the way is delicious. Reminds me of Pho. This evening(Sat) we are having 11 of our neighbors for a supper of burgers and dogs plus squash casserole and others are bringing dishes and desserts as well. Hopefully we can get in a couple games of Sequence which they all love to play. I'm hoping its dry enough we can eat out on the deck or where ever. It was a big relief when I decided I did not want to travel on a cruise to Alaska next summer for my 80th. I'm a home body now and there is plenty to do here in the mountains without traveling to a foreign place on a ship for a week or so. I'd rather take a day trip or an over nighter for a day, with trips to this beautiful part of the mountains. We use to take our aged friends who are both gone now, our "mountain mom", Helen passed in February and her brother Joe has been moved by his daughter to Tennessee and no word if he is even still alive, oh well. It seems since I travelled so much during my USAF days(7 years) of living out of a B-4 bag(suitcase) that doing that again is nothing exciting. We do love the Shenandoah Valley where sister Dee lives and we love that 3-4 day adventure once a year, but so glad to get back here and of course our different lifestyle when being in Florida for 7 months of the year, LATER

Thursday Morning Aug 22nd

Well this month is just about gone and its the last month of truly summer here in the mountains. The leaves are already falling and we have seen some beautiful colors as well from the gum trees and some vines that grow in the trees. We are getting some much needed rain this morning as I make this post, no gully washers but a steady rain and some fog and then its supposed turn to Fall temps for the remainder of the month. September usually brings some much cooler temps but hopefully no frost but of course we have seen snow flurries the end of September in the past, oh well.

I started the day with my usual rollout while it was still dark to 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 but one dear man is hurting severely, keep Chris in your thoughts and prayers for at least comfort as he is on a fentanyl patch for the pain. After my quiet times and social media posts, I did head out to check on the gardens after stretching on the back porch and then harvested several tomato's and cucumbers. No deer damage over night which is a plus. I sowed some lettuce seeds as well as potted up several dill seedlings. It may be too late for them this season to mature. I have green beans to harvest as well as more yellow squash and lettuces to cut and clean for the salad bowl today as well once this rain stops.

The flower beds except for the holly hocks as the deer really love this flower are in full bloom and are beautiful with the zinnias over 5 feet tall and the black eyed Susans are just gorgeous as well.The butterfly bushes have really taken off in the circle drive bed and their fragrance is delicious as well. We got ready and headed to Sparta for Nancy's hair appointment at 10:30. We made a bread stop on the way in and then I headed to the library to read and found another non fiction WW11 book titled LUCKY 666. The 666 was the tail number on a bomber aircraft this pilot flew and who this story is about, its an awesome read about the battles against the Japanese in the pacific theatre off the coast of Australia. I couldn't not put it down and read in between waiting on Nancy's appointments and stops on the way home at the Food Lion and then the meat market for made up burgers for when we have neighbors for supper and games on Saturday evening and then again when we got home waiting to go back to Sparta in the evening for our couples class. GREAT read.

I did take some wine berry bushes I had potted up for Mike and Linda as well as some tomato's to give away to neighbor Tim at the foot of the driveway and to Shirley and Grant. By the way keep both of them in your prayers as he in need of having surgery for the removal of a kidney that is cancerous. He seems in good spirits and is a Believer, but still this weighs on your heart. I made a decision after hearing about taking a cruise to Alaska for my 80th birthday which son Bobby mentioned the other night that we should do; but I'm not in favor since it really doesn't thrill me any longer, plus all my cruises are here at this place which I truly love and sleep well at nights. I can see all the pictures of the beautiful rugged landscapes on line from others who take this adventure plus it makes for such inconveniences for some family members as well. Truly I will be happy to share that special day here at the cabin. I know I will disappoint a few with my decision, but after talking it over with Nancy who is in agreement with me that cruising is not for us at this time in our life.

We saw tons of deer on the way into our couples class and some really big bucks that were out and about during the daylight hours. We had a good discussion on forgiveness as well as mentioned many who need prayers for comfort and healing as well as many personal decisions made in life. On the way home I stopped for non ethanol gas before getting back to the cabin around 9:30. It was soon shower time and then some more reading until 10:30, LATER

Thursday Morning Aug 21st

Well Wednesday started out 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 then 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 walking around the property checking on the gardens and flower beds for deer damage and thankfully none was evident or at least no new damage. There was still plenty old damage but those plants are still holding and renewing some growth.

I had a hearty breakfast of grits, eggs, jalapeno and a tomato all cut up and mixed together in a bowl which was delicious to say the least and for lunch it was a fresh cucumber, tomato and some sliced cheese and then for our supper I grilled deer burgers and we had our first mess of fresh beets, yeow did we ever eat healthy for the day and then to top that off we hiked the mountain around 11'ish. So we did good except for cleaning up the last of the oatmeal, coconut, chocolate chip cookies of which I had 4 mid afternoon while we watched the LLWS from 1 on, until 9. Needless to say we love those games and our one team we pulled for made a miracle comeback in the extra inning after going down 6 to 1. Well South Carolina came back and won 7 to 6 when all they could do was score 1 run through 6 innings and then went down by 5 runs to South Dakota. What a finish to the day and they will play in the USA championship game against Connecticut on Saturday.

I did some small garden chores during the morning after breakfast and before we hiked and then it was chill after lunch. We did get a small shower before supper which wasn't much considering all the thunder and dark clouds, but it gave everything a small drink as I was considering hand watering once again. I'm harvesting several tomato's daily now as well as yellow squash and tons of jalapeno's and a few cucumbers. They have just about dried up so I've been hand watering them daily in hopes to get another couples weeks worth of fruit. The half runner beans are setting as well and I will pick them again tomorrow and the October beans the deer nearly ate to the ground are making a come back since I put up a fence around the vines and I even noticed a couple small beans have set. The 9 hills of red taters are doing great as well and I gave them a little fertilizer and hoed around the hills loosening the soil. I started these tatters from peelings and the plants are a foot tall now and hopefully will produce some fruit.

 Well after the final out in the LLWS game I hit the shower and then read until after 10'ish. Today we head to Sparta for Nancy's hair appointment and then back again in the evening for our couples class. Bobby called last evening and wants us all to celebrate next years 80th birthday for me on an Alaskan cruise. Amy is still not sure about them but I assured her I would foot their costs and now the issue is Rocky with what to do with him, anyhow its early and he just brought it up to see if we were interested . We years ago had the trip planned when covid hit and we had to cancel, LATER

Wednesday Morning Aug 20 th

 Well Tuesday was a do nothing day work wise as we were off to Galax, Va. to shop for ourselves and for a neighbor and gas up at the Sheetz store using a gift card I received for my birthday. The weather was near perfect with the highs in Galax around the 80's but on the mountain near the middle 70's with plenty of sunshine and blue skies. 

I started the day 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 are holding with this post. I did head out to check on the gardens after stretching on the back porch. I did receive two replacement deer devices from the company after making a short video of two of them not working. This was the third replacement devices so the company honored their products. I'm not really sure if they were the best as our neighbor bought one that is the same size but it gives off 13 different sounds and they are loud compared to mine which I can barely hear. Supposedly the critters hear it and its better but who knows. These deer get use to any device after awhile.

We were able to take the parkway all the way from our road to the road heading in Galax for the first time in a couple years. They replaced several bridges and did away with lots of trees along the way and repaved the road as well. It's such a pleasure to use it once again, both coming and going to Sparta and to Galax, Va. There was some still tree work being done on the way there but was finished when we returned a couple hours later.

We stocked up once again at Wal-Mart before heading home for a late lunch. Gas was a little higher there at 2.88 a gallon whereas in Sparta its still 2.84. What a change from years past when Va. was always 10 cents a gallon cheaper and now its just the opposite, oh well. We dropped off the item we picked up for Mike and Linda our neighbors and headed on home to unload and have a bite of lunch. It was after one so the LLWS was on the TV and we watched it until 9. We sure love this time of the year and those games and learn about these kids and where they come from and to watch some of them who are heart broken when losing out as well as the joy when winning. ESPN make it enjoyable to watch and participate from home.

After the last game I hit the shower and read until lights out for me around 10:30. Today, Wednesday is a stay at the cabin kind of day except hopefully for hiking to the top of the mountain. I have a few garden chores to do but nothing major in the works, LATER

Tuesday Morning Aug 19th

Well Monday was another nice dry day with plenty of sunshine and blue skies but it did cloud up in the afternoon with a 1 minute rain shower that you could count the drops and it was much warmer as well. The a/c was on again after our mid morning hike as Nancy was flushed because she doesn't perspire at all which actually helps keep you cool, anyhow we did our hike which I'm thrilled because we both need that exercise and the scenery is fantastic.

I started the day with a well before 6 rollout which was a change, so for a couple mornings I actually slept in close to 7'ish for some reason as thats not normal for me, but I'm back on my around 5:30 rollout schedule. I did my quiet moments to honor my lord, Jesus, give thanks for another day and to lift up several by name for comfort and healing. I have to add another name to my list whose name is Chris. I've known him for years but haven't actually seen him or his beautiful family in ages but he is suffering horribly with stomach cancer and he is only 58 years young and its not looking like he will survive this event. Keep him and his family as he just became a grand dad with his first grand child. He has 4 daughters and a beautiful wife and is an associate from when we first came to Cornerstone Church as he is the brother in law of our pastor. Every one else on my immediate prayer list seems to be holding with this post.

I did my routines that had me stretching on the back porch before heading out to walk the property and check on the deer damage; its not looking good for the hollyhocks this year to bloom as they are like a magnet for the deer diet. The small fence around the October beans seems to be working as they are coming back with lots of leaves on the vines and I did harvest another nice zucchini as well as three yellow squashes and another hand full of cherry tomato's and a couple plum as well as the larger tomato's. I'm almost to the point of giving some away to neighbors. The flower beds are in full bloom all except the circle drive which has some plants in bloom, but where we sowed wild flower seeds, nothing but weeds and grasses, oh well. Speaking of grasses the one area in the backwoods yards which I sowed some grass seeds is now green with grasses which for years only grew moss.

Well we ate leftovers for our supper and then headed to church for our respective Bible study classes which lasted close to 9 before we left for the cabin. Now that the parkway is open its a much easier ride and faster as well. We sure missed traveling on that for a couple of years and now today we head to Galax for some shopping and will take the parkway most of the way.

I did take the afternoon off and watch the LLWS until it was time to head out around 6:30 for church. Today there are 4 games and we will get to watch all but the first game until we get back from our trip to Galax which is usually around 1'ish or later. We have noticed the days are getting shorter and it stays dark longer in the mornings as well, LATER

Monday Morning Aug 18th

Well Sunday turned out to be a little on the warm side but with lots of sunshine and blue skies and a few rain clouds around but none fell on our place although we saw evidence of a shower in between Sparta and the cabin. It was a great afternoon for the church picnic along the river bottom where we had several baptism's for both the youth and adults.

I started the morning with a sleep in until nearly 7'ish for a change and was fuzzy for the first hour or so. It was church day so we finally got our act together and left the cabin around 9:30 after watching Gary Hamrick from Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg, Va.,and then again from our Pastor B at Cornerstone in Sparta. Both had fine messages and then he baptized several before lunch in the Little River. The church provided all of the food which was burgers, dogs, Cole slaw, chili and the fixin's plus chips and watermelon and drinks. We members brought desserts and Nancy made a couple dozen of oatmeal coconut chocolate chip cookies which were awesome to say the least. We stayed until close to 2'ish before heading back to the cabin to chill for the rest of the day. It had warmed up to the low 80's so the a/c was on until dark when we shut it off until bed time. 

The lunch held us the rest of the day except for some pop corn done the old fashion way around 7'ish. We both watched a couple LLWS games during the afternoon and then after a hot shower around 8'ish I read until lights out. We did take our first trip in the Blue Ridge Parkway from out entrance to US 21 which had been closed for a couple years as a bridge was being replaced. What a nice drive and its so much quicker now that it is open to get to Sparta and we hope the rest of the parkway will open so as to travel to the Boone area next summer which is another straight shot there, oh well.

I did hand water the cucumber before dark as the vines were starting to dry up after all the wet weather for a couple weeks. They are still producing but not nearly as well. We are getting more tomato's as well as yellow squashes and jalapeno peppers but no Bell peppers. It seems the fence I put up around the October beans is working as I have new leaves on the vines and I'm hoping to get a mess before the vines die, oh well. That was about it for this day, LATER

Sunday Morning Aug. 17th

 Well Saturday was another gorgeous day with tons of sunshine and blue skies and much warmer temp, my thinking of an early Fall just went out the door with heat and humidity back in the picture. It was another work day during the morning but then a lazy afternoon and then the evening found us with neighbors at the Cardon house(Bob &Mary) for supper and games. I think there were 11 of us all total which started at 6 and lasted until close to 10. The food was excellent as well and we contributed a huge pot of fresh half runner green beans which fit perfectly with the chicken meal.

I had 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 are holding that we know of with this post. I headed out to stretch on the back porch before walking around the gardens checking for deer damage and sure enough they got in a different patch and ate the tops of the flowers as well as ate the huge sun flower leaves that are around the upper patch. Those sun flowers are every bit of 9 feet tall or more but the deer love the lower leaves, oh well. My little barriers made a difference on two of the patches keeping them from eating the beans, beets and peppers.

We did take a mid morning hike to the top of the mountain and saw no one on top and wow was it ever hot on top in the bright sunshine. I sure miss some of those cooler days we had a week or so ago. We got back and of course the a/c went on. I had a lite lunch finishing up the last of the zucchini bread as I knew we were eating large for supper.

After the dishes were cleared away we taught several in attendance on how to play the team game called Sequence and while one of the gals had to play on the guys team they still managed to win the rubber game, but it was close as the guys won the first game which had the gals stirred up. We guys usually never win but it was close. We said our good nights and glad to meet a one gal we had never met before and one guy we hadn't spoken with for ages as he only comes occasionally to his place that is at the entrance to our private road. Everyone seemed to enjoy the game and the cutting up that's associated with it. We headed back to the cabin in the golf cart on this dark night and saw no critters along the way. It was almost 10 before we got in the cabin and I hit the shower and read for another half hour as we were are keyed up from the evening.

Today is corporate worship day both here at home on line and then again at our local church and afterwards a church picnic at the river where some will be baptized. The weather looks like a great day for this event, LATER

Saturday Morning Aug 16th

 Well Friday was our first full day of sunshine and blue skies for a couple weeks, no rain or rain clouds except for an hour or two in the late afternoon, but it soon pasted and the blue skies appeared. It also was a total work day and I felt it last evening before hitting the hot shower to soften the tired and stiff muscles in the body, yikes. We did get into LLWS as well on ESPN from supper time until bed time for me.

I had started the day with my usual before 6 rollout to some routines that begin with some quiet times after posting this ramble to give thanks for another day and to lift up several by name comfort and healing. Some are having more severe issues than others, but as far as I know all are holding with this post. I headed out after sunrise and the posting of this ramble and several social media posts to stretch on the back porch before doing a walk around the gardens checking on deer damage and dad gum if they hadn't been back in the back yard patch once again, eating the pole beans, beets tops as well as the bell peppers and a few tomato plant tops. I decided since the deer devices must be getting use to that I would at least make it difficult for them to get in those two patches. Later in the afternoon after weed eating the property and the driveway and then mowing for a couple hours to build a fence around the October bean patch and then string some rope between the open area of the other patch that has a fence 3/4 around it and place a scare crow in the patch, oh well. I'll see if this helps .

I did get in a little reading after our lunch on the back porch and then again after my shower before lights out at 10:30. Ann and Frank came by around lunch time to show us their new/used ATV and its a beauty, all except for some rust in the rear bed which is a little larger than my golf cart bed but you can do so much with this added feature as I use mine constantly when doing any work in the yards, gardens and hauling tools as well as taking the grands on mountain top rides. It looks as if the previous owner did the same with this vehicle.

We ate a frozen pizza doctored up mushrooms and black olives for our supper along with a garden salad. Today I'll harvest more half runner green beans as we pull a supper with friends in the 'hood and we will take a pot of them with us and then play Sequence. I think there will be 8 neighbors attending for the meal plus games starting at 5:30 or so. It should be a fun time plus on Sunday after the service we are having a church wide picnic down by the river in Sparta. There will be a cook out and a baptism in the river as well. The weather looks perfect for both as it was cancelled a couple weeks ago due to all the wet weather. Speaking of weather there is a huge storm out there which is becoming a hurricane and its heading right now to the east coast, pray that it turns and stays out to sea, LATER

Friday Morning Aug 15th

Well this month is half way gone and summer is coming to a close with lots of leaves already falling here in the mountains. We are at the half way point of our visit here as well. I started the day with my usual routines after sleeping in until nearly 7 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. The dew was dripping off the dormer on to the tin roof, but no rain over night which was nice and I'm hoping today I can fire up the riding mower and give the grounds a mowing since its been a couple weeks and grass is really looking good with all the rain.

I headed out after my posting of this ramble to stretch on the back porch before taking a tour of the gardens for any deer damage and while there was fresh hoof prints I saw very little damage except for the hollyhocks which for some reason they really like. I doubt we will get any blooms this year but hopefully they will come back next year as we notice them in full bloom along the roads in other folks yards with their huge blooms, oh well. The zinnias off the front porch are 4-5 feet tall and just in full bloom and beautiful as are the marigolds near the fire circle and the black eyed Susans are showing off their colors as well. Really except for the deer eating off a lot of the flowers in the circle drive everything is really in full color and gorgeous to look at.

I did harvest more zucchini's, yellow squashes and cucumbers which are maturing and we took a couple baskets of produce to neighbors and blessed them with tons of all of the above plus jalapeno`peppers. We stayed and visited with Grant and Shirley for a spell before returning home some where around 1'ish. We were eating an early supper of zucchini pie as we had our couples class at 7, so we skipped lunch after a hearty breakfast of sausage and egg biscuits laced with horse radish and a jalapeno pepper on mine. We ate the pie around 4'ish and it was so delicious and we have enough leftover for another meal which will be this evening as we are staying home the rest of the day. We hopefully will get a hike to the top today as we have missed the past two days due to weather and being busy with visiting neighbors yesterday.

I started that new new read by Sparks titled SEE EM and have read nearly have of it in my spare time, awesome read and story line as well. We had a good visit with our couples class as we celebrated a couple birthdays one being mine. Judy the leader made a delicious coconut pan can cake for the group. We were missing a few folks but had 10 in attendance. I made a stop at the landfill on the way to the class as it stays open Thursday's until 7. Not much else going on at the cabin except it has finally warmed up enough Nancy has the a/c back on after lunch. We were back around 9'ish and I hit the shower and then read until 10:30 when the lights went out, LATER

Thursday Morning Aug 14th

Well the rain has just about done us in as we are tired of it which is usually not the case because with out it we are doomed, but the overcast skies with no sunshine for days on end are almost as bad. I think we have one more day of questionable weather and then it warms back up with little or no rain in the forecast for a couple of days. We left the mountain around 4'ish for Sparta and did see some blue skies on the way into town where we made a long stop at the library for some new reads and then a Walgreen stop and finally at Crave for supper with Mechelle and Billy; more on that later in this post.

I started the day with my usual early morning rollout before 6 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 are holding with this post with some folks with more severe issues than others. I saw where a cousin of mine who I hadn't seen in 60 years passed away and who never married. He was 6 years younger than myself and I often wondered about him and his family life as an older brother took his own life when we were but teenagers, oh well.

I did head out onto the back porch to stretch around mid morning with the rain dripping from the roof and when I finally got a break around 2'ish checked the rain gauge and it showed an inch and half. I believe we've had close to a half a foot albeit over several days. The driveway did show a little rutting but nothing serious. I was able to check the gardens and saw where the deer were back again over night munching on the back yard beans, peppers and beets. They haven't destroyed them like the October beans which were coming back but now I'm not sure they will ever make any beans, despite some blooms still on the vines clinging along the support fence I have them growing on, oh well.

We did play some hand, knee and foot during the afternoon and I won again as now I'm on a roll. We got cleaned up and got ready to leave as the rain stopped briefly for Sparta where their streets were wet as well. We headed to the very nice library here for an hour or so as we both picked up several reads. Nancy picked up just one as she is reading our son's book which I just can not get into as it fantasy, anyhow we headed to Walgreens for a script for Nancy and then down the road to Crave where we met Mechelle and Billy for supper. The food was delicious to say the least and I would eat there again. It was our first time there in a couple years as we had one meal back when that was questionable in content.  We headed over to Mechelle to see the horses or Nancy did while Billy and I checked out his race car which runs on dirt tracks. It a well made car and outfitted for real racing as he comes from a racing family; both his dad and sister both had race competitive over the years. After the gals got back from seeing all of her Gypsy Vanner horses we headed in to see her bunch of exotic cats and new kittens which sell for thousands of dollars. They are so ugly they are cute and very friendly with their large ear and long skinny bodies and huge long tails. These are high priced cats and sell for thousands of dollars and her waiting list is huge wanting these special cats, they are so cute with great personalities as well.

We headed out for home and got back as the skies cleared for a change with no rain. I checked on my deer devices and set them on for the night. I'm sure the deer are getting use to them so I moved them around a little in hopes of saving most of my gardens bounty. I have noticed the day are getting shorter as its dark by 8:30 whereas it was close to 9:30 and you could still see some images in the back yards, but now its totally dark an hour earlier, oh well Fall is on the way and the cicadas are making their night time noise which is another sign summer is fading. I soon hit the shower and read until lights out for me around 10:30, LATER

Wednesday Morning Aug 13th

 Well Tuesday was a stay at the cabin kind of day as we had lite rain off and on for most of the day, plus it was nice to not have to go off the mountain as we do 3-4 times a week. We didn't get to hike either due to the rain but I got in a good sweat earlier in the morning before lunch time working outside. Nancy doesn't do much in the first part of the day as she stays up late and sleeps in, then her tummy doesn't allow for early morning hikes which I personally like and use to do before we had a bear problem which by the way I haven't seen one or any evidence of one since we've been here since May, oh well.

I started the day with a before 6 rollout to my usual routines that start with some quiet times after posting this ramble to honor my lord, Jesus, give thanks for another day and to lift up several by name for comfort and healing. Our dear friend and neighbor just got some bad news about his kidney's and one is cancerous and has to be removed, so keep Grant in your thought and prayers. He loves being outside and this will just be so hard on him as he already has had bladder cancer. Everyone else seems to be holding with this post.

I headed outside after the rain let up to stretch on the back porch before walking around the yards and checking on the gardens for any deer damage and they had a feast last night in the back yard garden eating lots of the pole beans, beet greens and some 'mater tops as well as the small patch down below the yard where I had beautiful October beans growing a couple weeks ago. Well they ate the leaves off a few days ago and there were plenty of blooms on the vines and were starting to leaf out again but they ate them back once again. There is so much browse in the woods but they love my garden and some of the zinnias as well as some flowers in the circle drive.

The devices didn't work or at least they have become use to them as they ate right along side two of them last night. Anyhow I have two devices that are dead and Nancy and I took a video of them after the rain stopped and sent them to the company in hopes they will replace these that just stopped working. I'm not convinced they are deer proof either. We sure have had our share of rain this summer but at least the temps have warmed back up which at least makes it comfortable, but now Nancy has the a/c on again, oh well. 

I watched the news on Israel as well as some video's on sailing and boxing matches to help pass the time as I need to get to the library for some reads which I enjoy doing. We finally cleaned up some left overs for lunch and supper and I harvested a nice mess of leafy greens and cleaned them for the salad bowl. I also harvested several more yellow squashes as well as cucumbers and a few cherry 'maters. No green Bell peppers yet but the jalapeno`s are doing great and the 9 hills of tater plants are growing that I started from peelings. 

Well since it rained after supper we settled into hand, knee and foot until her 9 PM TV show came on and I whupped her again big time. Ever since my birthday I've been winning but before that she was whupping me. Tonight(Wed) for supper we are meeting old friends in Sparta at the Italian eatery called Crave. We haven't been there this year but they seem to have lots of folks eating when they are open. This small town is limited on eating in places and very limited on Sunday's when we usually eat out after church. I wanted to see some of the meteorites which were visible in some parts of the country but the overcast skies prevented any of that being visible here on the mountain, oh well. I hit the shower around 10'ish and was soon down for some horizontal lab shortly afterwards, LATER

Tuesday Morning Aug 12th

Well Monday started out with some drizzle after an over night rain but eventually we saw a little sunshine and it did stop raining for most of the day except for a small shower in the late afternoon. I did manage to get outside and piddle around in the gardens harvesting a really nice mess of half runner beans, zucchini's, cucumbers and tomato's. The garden is showing some signs of too much rain with the leaves yellowing on the cucumber vines and squash plants, oh well. The grass needs mowing but its just too wet and its has been raining this morning, at least its not a gully washer, oh well.

I had started the day 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 did head out onto the back porch and stretch before attempting to check on the gardens. I did about a half way check when the drizzle started again and was on and off for the next couple of hours before it stopped for several hours. We never got in a hike for some reason which I hate to miss because we both need that exercise. We did eat healthy for most of the day with eggs and grits for breakfast, sliced cucumber and tomato with some left over Cole slaw for lunch and then left over rib eye steak with half runner beans and some white rice for supper. I stayed away from the bread and any sweets.

I did some internet readings and some videos on sailing the world and adventure on the waters as it was too wet to mow. We were heading out around 6 for Sparta with a stop at the Food Lion for a couple items before meeting up at Cornerstone for our respective classes. I did get to talk with another class member with the same last name and did learn we may be related as distant cousins. Seems his father moved them from Maryland down here but his grandfather's name was the same as one of my uncles which was always interesting to me. I believe his great grand father was my grand fathers brother who I only met a couple times but was always aware of them and where they lived in Maryland. Both his father and grand father are gone so I will look up their names with Dee when she gets back from Nebraska. Cody is the young man's name in my class and his father's name was Jarvis and grand fathers name was Junior and great grand father was Loring who we always called Uncle Loring and they lived in Silver Springs, Maryland. It will be a small world if it turns out we are distant cousins.

We got back from Cornerstone around 9:30 so it was shower time for me and then I checked on the Ray's but the game had no score out in Oakland, California so I soon hit the sack for some horizontal lab, LATER

Monday Morning Aug 11th

 Well Sunday was a sunny day with much warmer temps which were welcomed after several days of cooler than normal and wetter than normal weather. It was just a near perfect day especially with the windows and doors open at the cabin and then for an after dark golf cart ride to the top of the mountain to watch this orange moon appear over the horizon.

I started the day with my usual before 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. All are holding and Zack is out of the hospital and doing fine. I headed out out to stretch on the back porch before wondering around the yards and checking on the gardens for any damage and to harvest any veggies that were needed picking. I picked up a red plum 'mater that had fallen off the vine and a couple other 'maters from the other garden and noticed the cucumber vines were starting to turn yellow. There are still several about ready to harvest as well and so are the yellow squashes. I'll pick them today after the rain stops which is now happening as I make this post. The almanac got this summer wrong as it was supposed to be very hot and dry here in the mountains and it has been just the opposite with the heat on at times and wet more than usual.

We watched Cornerstone Chapel before heading out to our Cornerstone in Sparta. Afterwards we met up with the Frankis Family at the Mexican eatery for a delicious meal that held me the rest of the day and evening. We came home and opened up the cabin and I tuned into the NFL until we took a hike to the top of the mountain and then neighbors Grant and Shirley came by and we taught them hand, knee and foot. We played three rounds after the girls gave up on the first game after two rounds as we guys were several thousand points ahead and so started a new came and it was close when they mentioned about going to the top of the mountain and watching the moon come up last night; so we decided to suspend play and head up to the the top for this event. Well we were there a good half hour before we saw the moon emerge from the clouds and it was majestic and beautiful to say the least. 

Well we called it a night as they headed on down to their cabin and we headed up the driveway to ours as it was going on 10'ish. I soon hit the shower and checked the internet for the Ray's game scores and now they have lost two in a row, oh well, LATER

Sunday Morning Aug 10th

 Well Saturday started out overcast with fog and those gray skies but by the afternoon the skies cleared and we saw blue with some sunshine, albeit at times clouds covered it at times and the 70's returned. We are so thrilled for no rain, fog, dampness and the return of the sunshine and warmth. I started the day with my usual routines after a before 6 roll out to 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 are holding and even Zack is coming around to treatment the last we heard, but is still in the hospital. I headed out to check on the gardens and the grass was just solid wet from the fog and drizzle so I'm wearing my gum boots and found no evidence of any deer damage or any worm's on the 'maters and pepper plants. Hopefully with dispatching the three that were covered in little white larvae I settled that population.

I did pick a coffee cup full of blueberries off my bushes and added them to my oatmeal, cinnamon, honey and pecans that was my breakfast and then headed out to work in the driveway with the pole saw/clipper I borrowed from neighbor Mike last evening. Well I worked clearing several limbs that were overhanging the driveway for the next couple hours. I could only reach so far up while standing in the back of the golf cart and a pair of shrub clippers, but with this extension on the pole saw I could reach another 12 feet or more and I got the job done. It looks like a huge saw cut and cleared the driveway, now when it cools off for Fall neighbor Gerald and I will use his tractor to pull some of the huge broken limbs and trees that fell in the ditch during the storm last winter and saw them up. There are two huge tree limbs in separate spots that are still clogging the ditch along side the driveway which will required lots of chainsaw work plus another tree down in his upper driveway alongside my property which is actually my tree that fell.

Well after getting back from returning the pole saw to Mike's I got Nancy to head out on a hike to the top of the mountain and we took the long route while doing so. We went down the drive and up by Sheri and Steve's place and while there we called Steve and face times with him for a spell. He sure misses being here especially since Sheri is on another 2 week cruise with their daughter and it will be the middle of October before they get back, because they will be going on another Alaska cruise together before then. She is in the cruise business but also takes them almost monthly or so it seems.

We saw no one on top and and then came down the back road and trail to the cabin. That was a nice hike and so enjoyable with some sunshine. We had a snack for lunch as we knew we were heading out to the Frankis Place for a birthday party for Seth who turned 3 the day after I turned 79. Nancy made a huge bowl of Cole saw and Jake had several hot dogs on the grill plus pasta salad and chips were evident there as well. We stayed until 5'ish when the party ended and we renewed old friendships we had made last year who had kids that was at Skylar's party. The setting at the bottom land along side their small stream of water is just an awesome place, not only for picnic's but for huge gatherings and cook outs and the kids just love being on all the playground equipment and of course in the water as well as its only ankle deep, but cold. It was a fun time and we took a different route to come home that was close to the parkway, but so different and very scenic called Brown Road. We had taken it many years ago and it was very now different with some majestic places and views that were awesome as well.

We got back at the cabin around 6:30 and saw tons of deer out and about as well. We didn't do much once we got home except I tuned into some preseason NFL until it was shower and then some horizontal lab around 10'ish. Today is worship day both on line and in person at Cornerstone in Sparta and then probably lunch out with Frankis Family, LATER

Saturday Morning Aug 9th

 Well Friday started out wet, damp and cool but not nearly as cold as the past several days. It didn't rain at all but the morning roof dripped water from the fog and heavy dew. The grasses never did dry out during the day but at least it was some what brighter although no blue skies or bright sunshine, but it was some what better than the last week. 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. The son of a couple in our Bible class is in the hospital and needs some prayers for healing, Zack is his name, so keep him in your prayers for healing both physically and some mental issues as well. Everyone else is holding that I know of.

I did fire up the weed eater and did the property lines and now I'm hoping for some warm, drier weather so as to mow the yards which have grown with all this wet weather and cool temps. The large tomato's are starting to ripen and I've harvested 3 nice ones and couple more are turning as well. The squashes have slowed as have the cucumbers with no sunshine but the plants still look half way decent with plenty of blooms. The jalapeno peppers are producing and and I took about a half dozen or more up to a neighbor on top of the mountain when we took our daily hike to the top. I'm thrilled that Nancy is getting back into that routine as I really missed it last year for several reason's which mainly was the bear scare. She is getting over that with carrying a fog horn finally.

We had a huge mountain breakfast with fried tatters, bacon and eggs and toast and of course I cut up a couple jalapeno's in my tatters that were left over. Wow, a delicious way to start the day and it held me until suppertime with a slice of birthday cake for lunch. We finished up the leftover Zuppa soup with some crackers for supper around 6'ish. We decided to take the rest of the cake down to one of our neighbors and visit for awhile and in between their place we stopped and visited with Mike, Linda and Elaine as they were working on restoring an old cabin they purchased next door to his nice modern cabin. They are doing a great job with restoring bathrooms and painting bedrooms and making some great changes and improvements. I borrowed his pole saw extension which I used a year ago to trim the blue spruces in the front yard and now have a couple over hanging tree limbs in the driveway I couldn't reach with shrub clippers. They are here just up from Statesville for the weekends mainly, but her sister Elaine is here full time and stays in the mobile home across the road. Great neighbors and wonderful folks.

Well we visited with Grant and Shirley who both have some major health issues for an hour or so but wanted to get back to the cabin before dark. Once we got back I tuned into an NFL preseason game until it was shower time. The Bucs play tonight(SAT) on the ROKU so hopefully we will be back from the party for Seth which starts at 3 PM. Nancy is making Cole slaw for the dogs which what they are having for family and friends. It wasn't long after a hot shower that I was ready for some horizontal lab as the weed eating is a job walking up and down these yards, LATER

Friday Morning Aug 8th

 Well Thursday finally saw of with just a small touch of some sunshine during the late evening but this morning its back to rain and fog. No down pours or gully washers but still more rain. We were hoping after seeing some sun in the late evening it would be clear skies and warm temps for a change. Nancy is still having the faux fireplace on for some warmth which runs off 110 and puts out moderate heat, oh well.

I started the day with my usual before 6 rollout to some quiet moments 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. It was still so wet and dripping rain that I waited until mid morning to head out to stretch and then walk the yards and check on the gardens. Once it stopped with the wetness from the skies I was able to check on everything and while the grasses were soaked everything looked good, but we need sunshine to bring on the veggies. I did put and end to 3 more huge horned worms and two were loaded with larvae on their backs which would have destroyed the peppers and tomato plants if I hadn't found them. 

I did notice the half runner beans have a couple mature enough to harvest but I hate to get into the garden and pack it down when its so wet. The forecast was for sunny skies and 70's for today (Fri.) but its sure not looking like it thus far. We did take a mid morning hike to the top of the mountain and Nancy is doing much better as she is getting more into shape and we stopped and visited with Billy and Paula for quite a spell before heading back down to the cabin. We wore our gum boots on the hike as everything was still wet despite the rain had stopped for the day.

Well it wasn't much I could do except pull some weeds from the flower beds and then watch the war in Israel before we ate an early supper since we were heading to our Bible study couples class in Sparta at one of the couples house. It was going on 9'ish before we broke up and then made a stop at the Food Lion for some items for Saturday's birthday party at the Frankis place for 3 year old Seth. We got his gift delivered yesterday and its a tractor trailer with trucks which he loves playing with. The Ray's won the night before and are 2 out of 3 wins thus far on the road. They had the night off last night.

We saw lots of deer out and about both going to the class and then again after dark on the way home. I got my innards for the gas grille in the mailbox, so I'll work on that today since its too wet to mow. Not much else except after a hot shower I soon hit the sack for some horizontal lab. Not sure what time Nancy came in but she is snoring now in the bedroom and has become a night owl and a sleep in, LATER

Thursday Morning Aug 7th

 Well Wednesday was another overcast wet day with water dripping off the tin roof most all day and even into the evening hours. There maybe was an hour at most when the dripped slowed and stopped but not much more than that as I never got to do any outside walking or chores except I did manage to harvest some tomato's for the first time this summer, some yellow squashes and cucumber. Most of those I blessed our "mountain family"Jake and Katelyn and the kids with when they came for supper last evening. More on that event later in this ramble.

I had 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 especially since it was my 79th birthday and to lift up several for comfort and healing, all seem to be holding. It was dripping rain from the upper dormer onto the tin roof which was evident with the noise so I didn't go out of the cabin until some time after lunch when it let up for just a little while. Enough so to do some harvesting from the gardens and to check on those big fat green horned worms that almost ate up a whole jalapeno` pepper plant before I actually saw them.

The rest of the day was inside helping to get the cabin ready for the Frankis Family who were coming for supper. I vacuumed and did some piddly chores both inside and in the basement helping Nancy get ready for company. She goes hog wild when ever anyone is coming for supper or for a visit making sure everything is just perfect which I do love about her but some times she goes over board with those preparations, anyhow the supper turned out delicious with grilled boneless rib eye's, baked tatters with tons of trimmings, black eyed peas, garlic bread and she made a chocolate cake with chocolate icing for dessert. Katelyn brought a fresh salad and we ate well. After cleaning off the table we got in to 4 rounds of hand, knee and foot and we guys won again just like the last time we played the game at their place a month or so ago. It was fun and we were behind from the start but made us winning in the end with getting all of our required books where as they fell short. They love the game and it does take a couple hours or more to play depending on how much chatter goes on during the game.

The kids watched some Disney which we now get on HULU and played around with the baby who is crawling and is just the sweetest baby with tons of smile. She is also starting to eat table food and loves steak and tatters. The other two kids both made me a birthday card which was sweet of them. Today is Seth's 3rd birthday and Skylar is now 5 and starts kindergarten in home school this year. Katelyn has her hands full helping Jake with his cabinet business which is doing quite well, gardening and raising animals on the farm. She is an awesome mom as well as a part time EMT. Jake is so talented as well and can do most any kind of construction, building, carpentering and you name it work, plus is a youth leader and pastor at our church. Great family and we have adopted them and so enjoy their company and I'm sure he will be there as I will need help with projects in the future here at the cabin as I age.

Well after they left around 10'ish we did the dishes and I hit the shower but the dessert with that chocolate cake had me wide awake forever. I eventually fell asleep but Nancy had me awake at 4'ish with her snoring so I got up around 5:30 for the day. This evening we have our couples class so we will be out late once again, oh well. I love being busy and I'm hoping I can get out today and at least get in a hike or some garden chores outside. After a day or so inside I get cabin fever with being shut in. I got lots of phone calls from family as well as friends and the wishes on social media were sweet and plentiful with so many, LATER

Wednesday Morning Aug 6th..this is the 40th year that I will celebrate 39

 Well Tuesday was another work day despite it being quite cool, damp and no sunshine. I donned a long sleeve and a flannel shirt to start the day and Nancy had the faux fireplace on which gives off some heat and keeps it cozy and in the evening after supper and the cleanup we lost our power for a couple hours while sitting at the table playing hand, knee and foot. I was getting whupped in the second phase so maybe it was a blessing we lost power and I didn't lose again.

I started the day with my usual 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 headed out to stretch on the back porch before doing my early morning walk around the property checking on the gardens for any deer damage. I found no deer damage but did find several of those large green horned worms eating on my tomato and jalapeno peppers. I dispatched them with my boots and one had several small white larvae which I also dispatched. They had nearly stripped on pepper plant and had even eaten part of a pepper, wow. I now have a couple large tomato's starting to turn finally. We just haven't had any sunshine for several days now and the temps have been down in the 50's to start the day and stays in the 60's with this cloud cover and overcast skies and the threat of rain, oh well. It sure feels like and early Fall.

After a breakfast of oatmeal with a banana, cinnamon, honey and pecans I headed down the driveway with the shrub clippers to clear out some of the over hanging brush and straighten out the driveway from the brush which grows inward. That kept me busy for an hour or so and then I hauled a couple loads of brush and debris to the burn pile. I'll wait until the yellow squash is done before burning or maybe until Fall as last time I burned it singed the grasses along that patch. I still have a couple egg plants one of which is setting a fruit and now some dill sprouts coming up from the area where I emptied out a container of saved seeds a couple weeks ago. I'm surprised they germinated after several days and all that rain, but I have lots of seedlings showing colors, oh well. I doubt they will mature unless we get some sunshine.

The yellow squash and zucchini's continue to show lots of fruits as well are the cucumbers. We are having the Frankis Family for supper tonight and a lot of their garden got washed out during those gully washers rains a couple weeks ago, so I'll load them up with squashes and cucumbers. The half runner beans have covered the poles and now have a few beans maturing and if the deer don't eat them we should have plenty for our use and to give away. I have a new batch of lettuces almost ready to harvest as well and the Swiss chard and kale continue to mature and add to the salad bowl. Nancy used my kale last evening in our Zuppa soup we had for supper, delicious to say the least.

Not much else going on here on the mountain except we did head up to the blue berry patch on top to pick a pint or so from the bushes at Joe and Jetta's old place. The new owners contacted us and said to pick all that was coming in because they were away in Italy for 3 weeks. They should be back this week end and their berries are ripening daily. I'm starting to get a few from my bushes but the lack of sunshine once again is making the difference. I did after lunch get a fire going in the circle and burned some house hold trash for a change. The grasses will need mowing in the next couple of days as this weather is perfect for it. The Ray's lost on the west coast Monday night as they don't start playing until after 9 our time so I didn't check last night as I hit the sack at 10'ish, LATER

Tuesday Morning Aug 5th

 Well if my bio mother were alive she would be 99 years of age today, but she has been gone for 20+ years and while we never lived together after about my 4th birthday she did give birth to me, so Happy Birthday. I grew up being raised by her younger brother who eventually became my legal guardian and stayed with him and his family on the farm until I reached the age of 17 and graduated in '64 and left the home for good. I did go back and visit from time to time and still do visit with his 3 girls who are my first cousins but claim me as their older brother. I never knew who my bio father was, but my uncle was there to give me guidance and at times it was rather punitive and filled with hard work. There was always remembrances of those times which kept me away for years, but eventually I brought my family back for reunions and thankfulness for taking me in as a small lad and then forgiveness as well were evident. Now I'm the oldest of all the first cousins among the 6 brothers and sisters who made up bio mothers family. All of them are gone with my guardian being the last to go a couple years ago.

Well I remember how lucky I was to be raised on a farm in the country and how to work usually from sun up to sun down caring for farm animals, tending to gardens, butchering every Thanksgiving Day and learning to drive not only farm trucks and tractors, but a team of mules as well as using a chainsaw cutting timber and pulpwood. I'm was no stranger to hard physical work and now I truly love being able to do those jobs and chores which I think help with my being young in this old body which will turn 79 tomorrow, oh well. I went from a country farm boy raised in a small community to seeing many foreign countries during my 7 years of service as a crew member on a huge cargo jet that entered a combat zone weekly in Viet Nam. I did get a college diploma being the first ever in my family in '73 while living in California before eventually moving to Florida. I spent 30 years as a traffic homicide investigator with the Florida Highway Patrol before retiring in '04. Life has had its up's and down's and my story is one filled with the love of Jesus which has been the life blood of mine.

I stared the day on Monday with a 6'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 for comfort and healing. All seem to be holding that is within my circle of associates and friends. I did my stretches on the back porch before heading out to check on the gardens for deer damage but first donned a flannel shirt as it was quite chilly with temps in the 50's. The skies were finally showing some blue but that changed as the day wore on to overcast and eventually a light rain and fog during the evening hours. I'm getting a little rusty with all this rain, oh well. Since it looked like a great day with clear skies I decided to get in some chain saw work cleaning up a huge dead tree limb that fell in the backwoods yard as well as some debris from earlier downed tree limbs in the backwoods area which were unsightly. I dug up three blueberry sprouts and planted them along the gully in the backwoods cleared area. They come from the main bushes via the roots, so I'm not sure it they will make, but what the heck. I then hoed all of the gardens as the rain had the soil packed from the last several days of rain.

Nancy decided to take a hike after getting some laundry out on the clothesline and while it was tough going for her at times we did the whole hike across the top of the mountain with stops along the way to visit with neighbors who were out and about. We actually sat and visited with Laura, a widow at 84 who lives there during the summer and she looked great after some issues of health concerns and then we saw Rick another neighbor along the way and chatted with him for several as well and then checked on the blue berries at another neighbors place which we have picked a couple times already. I'll go back this day and harvest them again to give away as mine are starting to ripen. It was a busy morning and early afternoon as we held off on any lunch after a big mountain breakfast since we were eating an early supper of leftovers around 4, due to having our respective Bible study classes at Cornerstone at 7.

Well it was after 9 before we got home and we had left around 6 for the Food Lion in Sparta for some items for when we entertain the Frankis Family for supper tomorrow on my big day. Their son's big day who will be 3 is the day after mine, but we will celebrate with them on Saturday evening at their place with a party. Lots of celebrating going on here in the mountains and we are lucky and thrilled to have so much fun here with awesome folks at our church and then in this neighborhood, LATER

Monday Morning Aug 4th

 Well Sunday was quite chilly to start the day with temps into the upper 50's, yikes this is the last month of hot weather usually for the mountains and already we've had the heat on in the morning and then again after church in the afternoon; of course dark clouded skies and the threat of rain with fog and mist didn't help with the weather either. We did see the sun or I did because I was out walking the property just before dusk when it popped out from the overcast for just a few moments. Its supposed to warm up later in the week to the 70's but I think the high heat is gone from here for a spell or maybe even until next summer, of course the high heat is till in Florida and down off the mountain.

I started the day with my usual before 6 'ish rollout to my routines that start with some quiet times after posting this ramble 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. Nancy had the faux fireplace on for some heat as I stretched on the back porch and then walked the property checking on the gardens for deer damage. I donned a flannel shirt while doing so. The dampness really made you feel the chill in the air and it stayed that way most all day even though the temps did get into the upper 60's by late afternoon.

We watched Cornerstone Chapel on the internet before heading out to Cornerstone in Sparta to our own church family and heard a good message about the 40 days series when Joshua entered the promise land and GOD directed them to the down fall of the city of Jericho. After the sermon we met up with the Frankis Family at the Pizzeria for a delicious lunch. We made plans for them to come to our place on Wednesday as we celebrate my birthday with a get together. They mentioned all of these gully washer rains washed out a lot of their gardens so I'll have plenty to share with them when they come by later in the week.

We came home and settled into the Ray's game and they lost again to the Dodgers at home. Their season's chance for playoff ball is quickly evaporating as they now have a two week trip out west against all good teams, oh well. Since we had a large veggie pizza for lunch we skipped any supper, but I did pop some corn and we settled for a change into a couple movies. Sandlot was a fun watch and then I found a movie about Hank Williams life called I Saw The Light. What and interesting story about the country singer who made headlines all over America and died at the young age of 29, wow what a waste of talent that alcohol and drugs had such and influence in his death and demise of family life. Those two movies were the first I've actually sat through in many moons.

Well I soon hit the shower and put an extra blanket on the bed for the night as its still quite chilly and slept like a baby for a change, oh well, LATER

Sunday Morning Aug 3rd

 Well Saturday was basically a wash out with drizzle, fog and much cooler temps, so much so you could see your breath at times. No sunshine at all but there was a couple small periods where you could get outside to at least check the gardens and to harvest a few veggies but mainly we stayed in the cabin. After supper I did walk around the yards for several minutes getting in some exercise.

I had 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. I did head out on the back porch after my morning comments on the world news and social media to stretch before checking on the gardens for deer damage. There was a break in the drizzle but not for long when I did notice more holly hock plants eaten off as well as some flowers in the front circle drive bed had been eaten as well. Everything beside those areas looked good and no deer damage.

Since it was stay in the cabin we did play some cards and once again Nancy whupped me in both hand, knee and foot a couple times as well as kings on the corner during the afternoon and evening. The Ray's finally won a game at home over the Dodgers. We had a great breakfast to start the day with sausage, eggs, grits, avocado, tomato and jalapenos for me and sour bread toast with apple butter; Nancy skipped the tomato and jalapenos and apple butter which held me until suppertime except for an apple around lunch time. Our supper was also very tasty with parsley tatters, left over meat loaf and fresh sauteed yellow squash with onions and sugar pea pods. We ate healthy and cut down on the portions as well, no seconds for me.

After supper and the cleanup with me washing the dishes and Nancy drying I did head out in the cool damp temps to walk the property a couple of times which got the respirations elevated and stretched the muscles on the hilly backwoods yards. Today is corporate worship day at Cornerstone in Sparta but before it will be Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg. I did listen to our pastor in Seminole during the afternoon as well as a podcast that featured an investigator reporter named John Solomon who along with Sarah Carter broke the attempted coup by the dems on Trump in his first administration. Both of these fine journalist were excoriated by the MSM and denounced by the left but are now being justified in what they uncovered and reported to be factual as we see buried emails that Hillary, Obama and his cabinet minions did attempt to over throw Trump's administration. The truth is coming out and its a disgrace and treasonous to say the least. Well I hit the shower around 9:30 and then watched a little UFC while Nancy showered before bed time, LATER