Tuesday

Yeow, what a windy night in the mountains. Chairs, tables and benches moved all night as well as pine cones striking the front porch. The temp this morning was 48 degrees and a wind chill in the 30's. After our quiet times and left over buckwheat pancakes for breakfast I ventured out to check on the cabin. The wind had blown over my pole beans and dumped several hundred pine cones on the front yard and driveway. I picked up 6/ 5 gallon buckets of cones and deposited them in the fire circle for kindling. After cleaning up the yard I attempted to salvage the pole beans and managed to get them back upright and tie them off with twine. The plants are loaded with little beans and lots of bloom so if the cold and deer don't get them I should have another mess of beans before we leave for Florida on Sunday. Nothing like fresh grown beans.

I got a load of laundry out on the line while Nancy got ready to hike. Our hike took us up the back trail through our property and then the golf cart path to the top. The air was clean and fresh but a bit on the nippy side. There were lots of leaves, sticks, pine needles and cones on the path from the strong over night wind. We didn't see anybody today as we hiked on top across the ridge. We could see all the way to Winston-Salem as the air was clear. We decided as we started to head back to the cabin to take the road all the way to the top. Now this road is straight up and its been a couple years since we have been up to this section of the mountain. We at one time were friends with the folks that originally built this house but they have long since sold out and moved away. The view is awesome from this side of the mountain but the winds are extremely strong there during the winter. This day they were gusting strongly and it was down right cold. So we headed back to the cabin. At least we were coming down the mountain instead of heading up. Once we were back into the woods the cold winds were gone and once again it became rather pleasant to walk.

After a quick lunch of leftovers I headed out to work on some stump removal in the back yard. I now have spit the large red oak stump down the middle in several areas with a sledge and wedges. I just need for the elements to rot and decompose this stump. There was another large pine tree stump behind the outhouse. Now this stumps looks as if its been in the ground for 25 years as it sort of petrified. What a job too just split this monster with wedges. I managed to remove about half then I just drove wedges into and all around to once again get rain water leaking down into the heart of the stump that will help speed up decomposition. That 15 pound sledge is a real workout.

Well I picked some fresh Kale, gathered dried onions I had grown and hauled some fresh potato's from the basement for Nancy to made her Zuppa Tuscana Soup for supper. Wow was that ever good and especially on such a cold windy evening. By the way I lighted the gas wall mounted heater. It is rated at about 15 thousand BTU's which is rather small to heat a whole cabin but with the great insulation job in the 6 inch walls the cabin stays rather snug. I also hung a curtain on an expandable rod at the base of the stairs to keep the heat from going up the stairs. What a difference that little barrier does in keeping the heat down stairs with us. We are ready for a cold night.

Our neighbor and friend Ray came by for visit just about dark. He always fills us in on whats happening in the hood. He also informed us he is no longer a dog owner as he gave his dogs away to the SPCA. They informed him they had several offers for his Blue Healers and that homes had already been secured. It should make a difference in the amount of barking hopefully. Now if our other neighbor would reduce their number of dogs to a reasonable number maybe the hood will stay a little quieter. Well I can barely keep my eyes open after that workout on the hike and the sledge hammer. So I'm ready for a hot shower and muscle massage. Where's Nancy?? Enclosed are a few pics from today.LATER