Tuesday

Yeow, is this morning temp absolutely delicious. I was awake a little after 6, so I just laid there listening to the stillness of the moment. We sleep with a sheet, blanket and most nights with a quilt and all windows closed. It was in the high 50's this morning. After my quiet time I slipped out to check the gardens for deer damage and found none. Hopefully my rifle shots or my "appearance" frighten them away.

Nancy made some great buckwheat pancakes, eggs and smoked turkey bacon for breakfast. While she was preparing the eats I hauled the scaffolding around to the deck side of the cabin and set it up so after breakfast I could finish bleaching the peak and fascia boards. I managed to finish at noon then had Nancy help me break it down and haul it over to Ray's garage on the golf cart after lunch. I took a long handle shrub clipper with us so I could trim all the over hanging limbs in our lane and out to the hard road. We then road the golf cart up to the back road behind our property and back down to the cabin.

I then trimmed the 2 blue spruce trees we planted the first year we landscaped the yard about 14 years ago. Today was the first time I had ever shaped them. Carson Todd, Ray's 9 year old grandson came by on his small motorcycle for one of his many daily visits after school let out at 1 PM. He loves to play checkers,however that is the only time I ever see him being still. He leaves after about 20 minutes and rides to the top of the mountain only to return again and again through out the day. He loves to come by and eat with us as well. He is having to do 3rd grade summer school because of his math and reading. Hopefully he will pass on to the 4th grade as he is mechanically very intelligent and can operate any piece of heavy equipment such as backhoes, knuckle booms, skidders and bull dozers. He rides motorcycles and golf carts as if he is in NASCAR.

After a couple games of checkers(I don't let him win but he is getting better) we got a nice rain shower and Nancy started to fix dinner. We had some beets and new potato's I grew in Florida, left over collards and a small steak. After dinner I jumped in the golf cart and headed over to weed eat for Ray. The grass was nearly waist high so high the Stihl weed eater could not cut the tall grass, so I remembered an old mowing scythe that was my grandfather's or older. We used in on the farm when I was a kid but the old timers actually mowed their hay for the year with this before horse drawn mowers were invented. My uncle gave it to me for posterity. Well it worked great and I mowed a large section in no time at all. Ray and Nancy were impressed as I was. I use to watch my uncle use it so I had the working knowledge of how to hold and swing it properly while cutting large swaths of hay. (will try to get a pic of it)

I mowed until about 8 PM then headed home to transplant some veggie seedlings. We were about ready to call it a day as darkness was falling and a hot shower was calling. Check out the size of the spruce in the front yard in '06(1st picture) and the size it was today when I trimmed it.LATER