Friday Eve guests arrived and left Sunday Afternoon

Well its been a few days since I've been on this air wave. Friday was spent getting ready for little Sis Dee and Mike, Kelly, Collin and cousin Martin. I helped Nancy with the cleaning and cooking so I didn't get updates out since Thursday. Well let me say first off it rained over 5 +inches in a steady rain for 36 plus hours. It was much needed; but we had a waterfall in our back lot that carried a tremendous amount of run off down the hill and into a ravine below the cabin.

Mike and Dee arrived near dark in a down pour Friday evening for dinner. Nancy had a huge pot of spaghetti sauce, a fresh garden salad with homemade Greek dressing and garlic bread. I shared some good homemade Merlot with the guests and we had a feast. Nancy also made a huge plate of brownies for dessert with hot coffee. After dinner we played a card game and then a game of Balderdash. Collin won the card game and Martin won the Balderdash game. It was nearly midnight when we called it a day.

Saturday morning bought more rain with a steady beat on the tin roof all morning long and at a times a "gully washer." After sleeping in we had a breakfast of cereal, raisin bread and fruit and then we all got ready to leave the cabin around 10 AM for Cornerstone. It was food distribution day so we had to pick up our order as well as an order for some friends. We left there around noon and visited The Blue Ridge Gallery where we saw our friend Melia Edwards. She and her husband, Joe recently opened the gallery where they sell; paintings, nick knacks, jewelry, quilts, knitting's and now have wine tasting. Joe is an artist and his paintings are first rate. Melia is quite a seamstress and her work is first rate as well. We spent about an hour there visiting, making some purchases and tasting some excellent "fruit of the vine." This is a must stop for all quests who visit us in the mountains.

We all stopped at the grocery and got some goodies for lunch and for dinner and headed back to the cabin. I cranked up the grill and we feasted on brats, dogs, chips and salsa. The rain let up enough we could finally get in a hike to the top of the mountain for about an hour. The back roads were very wet and we could not see off the mountain. We found some maples with their leaves starting to show some color as well as a few oaks. All of this rain should make for a fall of beautiful colors.

We came back to watch some great college football and quite a number of upsets. Some of us napped and others just enjoyed the ambiance and the company. This was the first trip here for Uncle Mike in several years and the first ever for Collin and Martin.

Saturday evening I cranked up the grill for marinated chicken breasts. Nancy and I made cold slaw, steak spuds and beans from the garden. Wow did we have another feast which got us invigorated for a game of domino's. We played until late and Collin won on the last round. The play was fun and boisterous. We followed up on a few late football games then headed for the sack.

Sunday morning found us with a little blue skies showing and some sunshine but with lots of water in the air, grass and surrounding; but no rain.We made it to Cornerstone for worship at 10AM after a lite breakfast. Worship was exciting and our guests were quite impressed with the genuine warmth displayed towards them by those at Cornerstone. They were made to feel welcome. After Cornerstone we met at the local Mexican Restaurant for lunch and had an excellent and very reasonable meal. After eating they had to head back to Kelly and Collin's college at Radford, Martin's college in Harrisonburg and Dee and Mike in Woodstock, Virginia. Where did the time go???

After our good-bye's and directions back to Galax; Nancy and I stopped and visited with Helen. We then headed for home and to just relax before getting in a long hike to the top. The sun was delicious and warm with still some cool and dampness in the the shaded wood areas. I managed to catch some NFL and our Bucs as well as the Panthers won their games.

Tomorrow we will start catching up on some wash and some getting the cabin ready to leave for 6 months or longer. We are so very fortunate to have such a great place to share with family and friends. Later, missing our family and especially grand daughters Ava and Annsley.