Friday

No rain through the night so it made for working conditions very favorable this morning. I awakened around 6:30 grabbed a hot cup of green tea before settling in to do my quiet time. Nancy was still in bed as I always check the rear of the property for wildlife and thar they were; 2 large deer. Anyhow I grabbed the .22 rifle and pulled off a round over their heads. One deer took off but the other one just jumped and spun around facing me(towards the back porch). I went into the bedroom(of course this woke Nancy up) and grabbed the box of .22 shorts and reloaded. That deer just stood there and as if to say "that's the best you can do." Well I pulled off another round while not trying to hit him but to scare him from the gardens. Well it just jumped up and turned around again and stood there watching me on the porch. (Actually I was in the buff). Nancy got up and said she wished she could have taking a picture of me with that rifle and me on the back porch nekkid. Well I shot a third time over his head and that deer had the gall to jump off into the woods and snort back at me.

After the "shots were fired" and my quiet time I settled into finally finishing the mowing. I then spread 150 pounds of fertilizer mixed with grass seed on the yards. I did not need to take a hike today(by the way I haven't been to the top yet, for a variety of reasons) as walking behind the spreader was about the same as a hike. I'm hurting from all this up and down on the stairs and hills. I thought pickleball would have helped to get me in shape, was I mistaken.

The lower garden had dried out enough to get in there and do some more weeding and to plant some potato's. I had about 15 hills(potato plants) that had come up as volunteers when I failed to gather all last fall. They had stayed in the ground all winter and are up about a foot. That gives me an idea for next fall that maybe I will leave or plant the little 'taters(nubbies) and next May when I come up I will already have a 'tater patch. Unbelievable they came up as this was a very cold winter.

I finally with Nancy's help managed to get all of the porch furniture out of the shed and basement. What a job that is and to think I use to carry all of this in a wheelbarrow up and down the yard; but now with the golf cart its a lot easier. Just like mowing this huge yard by hand(which I did until last year) but now with the riding mower it actually a fun job. Only once did nearly go over the steep bank; Nancy helped me push it back on level ground while "blessing me out." Oh well!!

We had our "mountain mom" Helen and her brother Joe for supper this evening. Nancy made a superb bean soup(northern and pinto's) with ham stock, fresh salad, a Martha White cornbread and a homemade banana cream pie. Yummm!!! Now that's good country eatin.' After supper the wind came up and the temp's began to drop. It was nearly 60 degrees at 7 PM. Good snuggling weather. LATER