Saturday & Sunday on Monday

Well first Saturday started out with cool temp's and rain as we waited for family to arrive from Virginia. Nancy took off for Alleghany Hospital to get another antibiotic shot for her UTI around 10 AM after our quiet times. I stayed home thinking family would arrive earlier than 1 PM when they did get in through the fog and rain. It was good to Dad and his friend Adeline, brother in law Mike who we hadn't seen for couple years and baby sister Dee. Nancy had made up some grilled cheese sandwiches as well as a huge pot of beef vegetable barley soup. WOW did that ever taste good on such a cold wet day. I don't believe it got out of the 40's the whole day as the rain fell for about 24 hours. We just visited after lunch until the girls decided to do some shopping at some of the galleries and show Adeline the big town of Sparta. The guys just watched college football and visited.

The girls made it back around 6 PM so we got busy putting supper together. I grilled some pork chops and Italian sausages while Nancy rustled up some oven 'taters, greens and a salad. Now that was some good eatin' and the girls did brownies for dessert. We tried a little of my homemade blackberry and wineberry wine. All declared it was very good. After supper we just chilled telling stories and watching football until we all began to doze off around 10 PM. The steady downpour made us all sleepy so we decided to call it a night, even though the time change gave us an extra hour of sleep. We finally got to bed around 11 PM.

Sunday morning brought cold temp's and just a sprinkling of rain. Finally just about the time we were to leave for church the rain tapered off but it was still overcast and quite chilly. Worship was awesome and Cornerstone was set to celebrate their 6th year with a pot luck luncheon. My family took off for Virginia after church so Nancy and I stayed and had lunch and visited for the last time this year with our friends. There were lots of hugs, handshakes and a few tears.

After lunch we headed to the hospital for a third shot of antibiotic. The antibiotic has cleared up the blood in the urine and there is just a little discomfort.We aren't sure if that comes from menopause or the infection.

Sunday afternoon found me relaxing with a little NFL football. The locals love the Panthers much like me supporting the Bucs. Neither team looks like a winner but the Panthers have won a couple of games whereas the Bucs are 0-7. Nancy put together a superb pot of chili as the Dalton Gng was coming for supper. We had cornbread to go long with the chilli, a noodle salad, and Kay made 2 pies of strawberries and coconut creme. YUMMM!!

After clearing the table we started playing Sequence and the guys put a whuppin' on the gals. We have a new secret weapon; its 8 year old Caleb. Anyhow the gals were crying and we almost called the wambulance but eventually they maintained their composure. I guess we have to resolve who has bragging rights for the year on Friday at Mechelle and Andy's place.

Monday found us heading to Sparta for what we hope is the last doctor appointment this year. The doctor was taken back when the culture revealed an usual strain of bacteria. He mentioned very people get this strain and we are at a loss where she may have contracted it. Anyhow hopefully we are on the road to a full recovery.

We stopped by Helen's on the way home and shared the last of the beef barley soup as well as a nut bread and some brownies. I climbed on her roof and waterproofed her chimney once again for the winter. After that I took the chainsaw and sawed a pine tree that broken off into her yard as well as knocked out a few stumps with the sledge hammer and got her a brush fire going. We headed home after sharing a few books and she gave me Nickolas Sparks new book THE LAST SONG to read. I like him as an author.

After getting home we headed out on a hike to the top of the mountain. The temp was 62 on the back porch and for me it was short sleeve weather. It was just plain gorgeous out. After getting back I got a campfire going so I could burn our household trash. While it was burning I turned over both herb gardens with a shovel, transplanted some Cilantro and Oregano for transport back to Florida for my winter garden. Evening was upon around 5 PM and the temps were dropping as well. Nancy made a superb turnip casserole along with leftover pork chops and a salad for supper. By 6 PM it was starting to get dark outside and by 7 PM it was black out outside.

All I can say is the day tuned out to be one of the nicer ones after a cold 38 degrees morning. The sky was blue with bright sunshine. LATER