Well the temps have certainly changed back to what we are accustom to here in the mountains of North Carolina. It was a high of 72 today with a low in the low 60's and the day was just magnificent with some high clouds until the afternoon which gave way to bright sunshine. Our morning was the usual with waking up around 6:30, having a spot of tea while doing my quiet time then I finished off the last 2 leftover buckwheat pancakes with Amish butter and honey.
Nancy mentioned that bugs were eating the leaves off her cone flowers so I mixed up some Malathion insecticide and sprayed all of the flower beds before we headed out for our morning hike. After the hike I mixed up some weed and grass killer and sprayed the unwanted grass in the driveway and around the fire circle. We had a couple bean burritos for lunch and then we got ready to make a double batch of black raspberry jelly. Wow is that a messy and use every pan in your cabinets chore. Nancy and I have this down to a system as we've been making jelly every summer.
After the jelly making chore I transplanted some Zinnia's into larger pots and got them ready to add some color to the porches and deck and then painted the back porch screen door before we got ready for supper which also turned out to be Mexican. Yeow we love taco salad especially when we have a lot of our own home grown ingredients. We headed out to the back road after supper and made it to the top of the steep trail but decided afterwards to visit our neighbors out near the mailbox as we hadn't retrieved our mail for the day. We met several more neighbors who were out an about on 4-wheelers and golf carts in this beautiful evening weather. Nancy actually complained she was cold while riding in the golf cart.
Well its certainly been a busy day with lots of busy chores and fantastic temps, it now is into the low 60's and will quite possibly go lower tonight into the 50's. Should be great sleeping tonight and speaking of sleeping I'm having a hard time keeping my eyes open. LATER
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Tuesday
Well it was another warm morning with temps in the middle 60's but the humidity had left so even though it reached the low 80's it was really quite pleasant. After our usual routine of quiet times and an outside check for deer and slug damage I microwaved a couple leftover buckwheat cakes for breakfast while Nancy had her bowl of oatmeal with blueberries. We had made arrangements to head to Virginia and pick black raspberries so we got ready to do that and then decided while we were near Galax to go ahead and shop for Amy and Tylers visit this Friday. The farm we picked berries at is just absolutely beautiful and is for sale for about 1/2 million or so as the husband passed away last year and its just to much for the wife to care for. This place was built by the husband as he was a general contractor and its top of the line with just gorgeous views, gardens and overall great landscaping with several acres and another guest house on the property, oh well.
After picking berries we headed to Walmart for some shopping and stocked up on grand baby goodies and groceries. The kids will be here on Friday and will stay for about a week. We hope to head to Winchester, Va. on Monday for a couple days to see my family and to introduce our grand babies to them.
We got back around 1:30 and had a salad for lunch then we headed out for our first hike of the day around 2:30. Afterwards we did a couple loads of laundry and I headed down to give neighbor Gerald a hand before doing a little garden work. We decided to go visit Grant and Shirley another neighbor who is up for a week at their cabin. We made plans to play Sequence on Thursday night with the group so it looks like about 10 players, should be a raucous time.
Nancy fixed a great penne pasta with butter, garlic, fresh oregano and basil to go with grilled salmon smothered in fresh dill and I sauteed fresh Swiss chard(out of my garden) with garlic in olive oil. YUMMM, what a supper!!! I hand watered the garden after supper until it was time for our second hike of the day around 7 PM. Wow was it ever beautiful and visibility on top was great. We could see Pilot Mountain and the area towards Mt.Airy. It was a great hike and the evening shadows were evident when we got back to the cabin so we cranked up the golf cart and took a ride over to visit with another neighbor we hadn't seen for a couple weeks. It turned out to be a great day seeing folks we hadn't seen in awhile, seeing some unbelievably beautiful country and eating good. LATER
After picking berries we headed to Walmart for some shopping and stocked up on grand baby goodies and groceries. The kids will be here on Friday and will stay for about a week. We hope to head to Winchester, Va. on Monday for a couple days to see my family and to introduce our grand babies to them.
We got back around 1:30 and had a salad for lunch then we headed out for our first hike of the day around 2:30. Afterwards we did a couple loads of laundry and I headed down to give neighbor Gerald a hand before doing a little garden work. We decided to go visit Grant and Shirley another neighbor who is up for a week at their cabin. We made plans to play Sequence on Thursday night with the group so it looks like about 10 players, should be a raucous time.
Nancy fixed a great penne pasta with butter, garlic, fresh oregano and basil to go with grilled salmon smothered in fresh dill and I sauteed fresh Swiss chard(out of my garden) with garlic in olive oil. YUMMM, what a supper!!! I hand watered the garden after supper until it was time for our second hike of the day around 7 PM. Wow was it ever beautiful and visibility on top was great. We could see Pilot Mountain and the area towards Mt.Airy. It was a great hike and the evening shadows were evident when we got back to the cabin so we cranked up the golf cart and took a ride over to visit with another neighbor we hadn't seen for a couple weeks. It turned out to be a great day seeing folks we hadn't seen in awhile, seeing some unbelievably beautiful country and eating good. LATER
Monday, June 28, 2010
Monday
Well at 6:30 I rolled over and looked at the clock and said to myself"sleep in" but the body said get up. I thought when you retire you could just stay in bed as long as you want to, but no I have to get up even though I skipped a whole nights sleep on Saturday night. After my spot of tea and my quiet time I slipped out to check on the gardens while Nancy did her quiet time as well. We decided last night to use up the 2 over ripe bananas in the buckwheat cake mix for breakfast. My were they ever good and they held us to nearly 1 PM before we had a lite lunch.
I sprayed the flower beds with an insecticide as some little brown bug was eating the cone flowers then fertilized all the veggie plants before we headed off on what would be our only hike of the day due to a good steady rain that started just as we walked out toward the back trail after supper tonight. It sure cooled us down once again from the mid 80's to the high 60's in about an hour. After our hike we changed clothes and headed to Sparta to the library, grocery store and veggie stand and post office to retrieve 9 days of mail. We got back around 1 PM and had a lite lunch of home grown sliced cucumbers and the last of the pork roast we brought with us that Nancy had ground up for sandwiches.
The temps were starting to rise once again to the mid 80's but with the strong breeze it was tolerable so I cranked up the weed whacker and edged the whole property. I finally finished around 4:30 so really walking up and down the yards I more than got my exercise in for the day. I picked some fresh kale, a cucumber, beet greens, a yellow pepper, a couple green onions and some basil for the garden salad Nancy put together along with a couple grille marinated chicken breasts, white rice covered with sauteed yellow squash and onion and a dash of soy sauce. Yumm good eatin'. Tomorrow we are heading over to Va. to pick black raspberries for jam at a friends berry patch then afterwards we'll head on to Galax for some goodies from Walmart. Hopefully the rain will hold off in the morning long enough to pick berries.
Well the weather forecast starting Wednesday is for highs only in the 70's and low's in the 50's. Now that is mountain weather and what we are use to here. This high 80's and high humidity is what we have in Florida, plus the garden likes the lower temps. Any how its been a good day with lots of little things accomplished besides edging. Did I mention the Japanese beetles are here on my roses and wine berry bushes and I picked off at least a hundred or more today. Nite nite beetle, oh by the way here is a good way to pick beetles so they don't get away when you try picking them from whatever. Take a used plastic butter container and put about 1/2 inch of water in it then put the container below the limb the beetle is on and tap the limb and the beetles will fall into the container with the water. The water keeps them from flying away so they will cluster into balls of 5 to 6 which makes its easy to lift them out of the water and lay them on a flat something before squashing them with your shoe.
Well will close for now as this soft rain on the tin roof is making me very sleepy, LATER
I sprayed the flower beds with an insecticide as some little brown bug was eating the cone flowers then fertilized all the veggie plants before we headed off on what would be our only hike of the day due to a good steady rain that started just as we walked out toward the back trail after supper tonight. It sure cooled us down once again from the mid 80's to the high 60's in about an hour. After our hike we changed clothes and headed to Sparta to the library, grocery store and veggie stand and post office to retrieve 9 days of mail. We got back around 1 PM and had a lite lunch of home grown sliced cucumbers and the last of the pork roast we brought with us that Nancy had ground up for sandwiches.
The temps were starting to rise once again to the mid 80's but with the strong breeze it was tolerable so I cranked up the weed whacker and edged the whole property. I finally finished around 4:30 so really walking up and down the yards I more than got my exercise in for the day. I picked some fresh kale, a cucumber, beet greens, a yellow pepper, a couple green onions and some basil for the garden salad Nancy put together along with a couple grille marinated chicken breasts, white rice covered with sauteed yellow squash and onion and a dash of soy sauce. Yumm good eatin'. Tomorrow we are heading over to Va. to pick black raspberries for jam at a friends berry patch then afterwards we'll head on to Galax for some goodies from Walmart. Hopefully the rain will hold off in the morning long enough to pick berries.
Well the weather forecast starting Wednesday is for highs only in the 70's and low's in the 50's. Now that is mountain weather and what we are use to here. This high 80's and high humidity is what we have in Florida, plus the garden likes the lower temps. Any how its been a good day with lots of little things accomplished besides edging. Did I mention the Japanese beetles are here on my roses and wine berry bushes and I picked off at least a hundred or more today. Nite nite beetle, oh by the way here is a good way to pick beetles so they don't get away when you try picking them from whatever. Take a used plastic butter container and put about 1/2 inch of water in it then put the container below the limb the beetle is on and tap the limb and the beetles will fall into the container with the water. The water keeps them from flying away so they will cluster into balls of 5 to 6 which makes its easy to lift them out of the water and lay them on a flat something before squashing them with your shoe.
Well will close for now as this soft rain on the tin roof is making me very sleepy, LATER
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Saturday and Sunday
Well Saturday was once again another scorcher in Florida and after rolling out around 6:30 and taking a few quiet moments to reflect, give thanks and to give lip service to those who I know needed some extra special care. Nancy made a couple fried egg sandwiches with pickle, lettuce, onion and tomato on toast with mayo. Yumm is that ever good eatin'. We initially were going to the beach but when its nearly 90 at 9 o'clock we decided we had to much to do to get ready to head back to the cabin on Sunday morning, so that's what we did; clean house, vacuum, do laundry and pack. I did manage to finish a read in between all that until Tyler came around 2 PM to wax his car under my big oak. I helped him and with the 2 of us it only took an hour or so and we even did my truck with the liquid wax you put in the wash water. Wow was it ever hot and we both were wet with sweat. The heat index was over a 100.
Nancy had I had everything packed except for some little stuff so we got cleaned up and headed over to Amy and Tyler's for dinner. She had a meat loaf cooking with baked potato's, black eyed peas and corn along with a Caesar's salad. She getting to be quite the cook. We had not only a great meal but a couple hours to play and love up on Ava and Samuel before heading home. Incidentally the Ray's won Saturday night but I just learned they lost Sundays match up with the Diamondbacks.
Speaking of Sunday we got on the road around 4:30AM for the trip back to the cabin. It was 89 when we left and so humid it kept me in a constant sweat while loading the truck.The trip was wonderful with little traffic until we reached Charlotte where temp was 100 degrees, Yikes that's even hotter than Florida. When we pulled in around 3 PM the temp on the back porch was 86, Yeow that really hot for here. Everything looked good as our "mountain mom" came by a couple times and watered some of the potted flowers. I picked a couple cukes and the 'maters plants are loaded with golf ball size 'maters. The Zucchini plant has a few small little squashes. That poison I put out for the slugs worked as I saw no new damage since we left 9 days ago. The wine berries are just about to burst forth and the bushes are loaded. I then hand watered until it was time to eat.
After a quick supper of a frozen pizza and a salad we headed out for a hike to the top, although we made the top we shorten the distance as it was beginning to rumble down off the mountain and we didn't want to get caught in one of these electrical storms. Anyhow it was still around 80 when it finally started to rain at 8:30 and it has drastically cooled the temp's off as well as cut the humidity out. What a beautiful soft rain and while we had about an inch while we were gone everything was dry and in need of this good drink with no fireworks.
Well I'm starting to get my second wind now that its cooled off so I'll talk at ya tomorrow. Later.
Nancy had I had everything packed except for some little stuff so we got cleaned up and headed over to Amy and Tyler's for dinner. She had a meat loaf cooking with baked potato's, black eyed peas and corn along with a Caesar's salad. She getting to be quite the cook. We had not only a great meal but a couple hours to play and love up on Ava and Samuel before heading home. Incidentally the Ray's won Saturday night but I just learned they lost Sundays match up with the Diamondbacks.
Speaking of Sunday we got on the road around 4:30AM for the trip back to the cabin. It was 89 when we left and so humid it kept me in a constant sweat while loading the truck.The trip was wonderful with little traffic until we reached Charlotte where temp was 100 degrees, Yikes that's even hotter than Florida. When we pulled in around 3 PM the temp on the back porch was 86, Yeow that really hot for here. Everything looked good as our "mountain mom" came by a couple times and watered some of the potted flowers. I picked a couple cukes and the 'maters plants are loaded with golf ball size 'maters. The Zucchini plant has a few small little squashes. That poison I put out for the slugs worked as I saw no new damage since we left 9 days ago. The wine berries are just about to burst forth and the bushes are loaded. I then hand watered until it was time to eat.
After a quick supper of a frozen pizza and a salad we headed out for a hike to the top, although we made the top we shorten the distance as it was beginning to rumble down off the mountain and we didn't want to get caught in one of these electrical storms. Anyhow it was still around 80 when it finally started to rain at 8:30 and it has drastically cooled the temp's off as well as cut the humidity out. What a beautiful soft rain and while we had about an inch while we were gone everything was dry and in need of this good drink with no fireworks.
Well I'm starting to get my second wind now that its cooled off so I'll talk at ya tomorrow. Later.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Picture of Nancy and Samuel
This was taken on Wednesday and I just got Tyler to show me how to down load it from another person's pic's.Friday, June 25, 2010
Friday
Well once again we had temp's that were in the high 80's to start the day and I know the heat index was over a 100 by sundown, plus its dry as well. After our quiet times and the bowl of oatmeal I rode off to the rec on my bike for some workout on the elliptical and then with the crunches and leg lifts. I had a good wet shirt after about an hour.
We were having the family over for lunch as it will be the last time we will see Bob, Jill and Annsley until right before the birth of Gabrille towards the end of September, at least that's what our plans are for now, so we had a great lunch of hamburgers and deerburgers on the grille as well as tater tots, pasta salad, fresh fruit salad and all the fixin's. Nancy made homemade chocolate chip cookies for dessert(once again I passed on them). Lunch was excellent and then we sat around and let the girls play for awhile before heading out under the big oak so they could ride trikes and climb the big tree with Bob. Itwas very hot but at least in the shade there was a breeze. They all left around 3:30 so Nancy took off to the rec to get her workout in before Amy brought Ava and Samuel by for supper as they were out on a date night.
After supper we took the kids home and gave them baths and put them to bed then we watched the Ray's get shutout by the Diamondbacks. They sure aren't playing well and of course they are no longer on top in their division. There seems to be a lot of thunder and lightening in the area but no rain and the lawns could use some of that as well as some to cool things off. Well tomorrow is our last day before heading out early on Sunday morning for the mountains. Sure hope its cooled off some there as well as its been in the 90's. LATER
We were having the family over for lunch as it will be the last time we will see Bob, Jill and Annsley until right before the birth of Gabrille towards the end of September, at least that's what our plans are for now, so we had a great lunch of hamburgers and deerburgers on the grille as well as tater tots, pasta salad, fresh fruit salad and all the fixin's. Nancy made homemade chocolate chip cookies for dessert(once again I passed on them). Lunch was excellent and then we sat around and let the girls play for awhile before heading out under the big oak so they could ride trikes and climb the big tree with Bob. Itwas very hot but at least in the shade there was a breeze. They all left around 3:30 so Nancy took off to the rec to get her workout in before Amy brought Ava and Samuel by for supper as they were out on a date night.
After supper we took the kids home and gave them baths and put them to bed then we watched the Ray's get shutout by the Diamondbacks. They sure aren't playing well and of course they are no longer on top in their division. There seems to be a lot of thunder and lightening in the area but no rain and the lawns could use some of that as well as some to cool things off. Well tomorrow is our last day before heading out early on Sunday morning for the mountains. Sure hope its cooled off some there as well as its been in the 90's. LATER
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Thursday
Well it was another busy day after rolling out about 6:30, whats wrong with me and sleeping in these days?? It would be nice to roll over and vegetate 'til after 8 AM, anyhow it was tea time, quiet time and then time to cut and trim shrubs at Nancy's folks house. Boy was it ever a cooker out there with temp's into the high 9o's. After getting back from GG and Pap's Amy and the grand babies came for lunch so I got to love up on them until it was time to eat lunch and then head out on my bike to the rec for some pickle ball.
We had 11 players and by the end of 2 hours at 2 PM I had a wet t-shirt. It was great to re-connect with a lot of the old gang and we even had 2 newbies there today. I'm sorry to hear that Leslie a.k.a. "muffy," her husband Clive is having some real serious health issues, yet is on the way to recovery while still in ICU. We will keep him in our prayers and thoughts.
After the ride home on the bike where the temp's were nearly 100; I chilled on the computer until it was time to get ready to meet up with GG and Pap and head out to Largo for dinner. We ate at the Bonefish Grille which is very good but a little pricey. All had fish except for myself which had the shrimp over fettuccine, its a little spicy but I love it. We came back to our place and played Phase 10 and 2 games of "oh Hell" which is a card game. Pap and I took the girls to the cleaners tonight. It was after 9 when they headed home.
Tomorrow is another day of family visiting and eating except we are doing it for lunch as Bobby, Jill and Annsley are coming along with Pap, GG, Amy, Ava and Samuel. I'm grilling some ground venison burgers for the guys and hamburgers for the gals. Should be a fun time for all except for missing Tyler as he is at work in Tampa.Well better get out of here for now, LATER
We had 11 players and by the end of 2 hours at 2 PM I had a wet t-shirt. It was great to re-connect with a lot of the old gang and we even had 2 newbies there today. I'm sorry to hear that Leslie a.k.a. "muffy," her husband Clive is having some real serious health issues, yet is on the way to recovery while still in ICU. We will keep him in our prayers and thoughts.
After the ride home on the bike where the temp's were nearly 100; I chilled on the computer until it was time to get ready to meet up with GG and Pap and head out to Largo for dinner. We ate at the Bonefish Grille which is very good but a little pricey. All had fish except for myself which had the shrimp over fettuccine, its a little spicy but I love it. We came back to our place and played Phase 10 and 2 games of "oh Hell" which is a card game. Pap and I took the girls to the cleaners tonight. It was after 9 when they headed home.
Tomorrow is another day of family visiting and eating except we are doing it for lunch as Bobby, Jill and Annsley are coming along with Pap, GG, Amy, Ava and Samuel. I'm grilling some ground venison burgers for the guys and hamburgers for the gals. Should be a fun time for all except for missing Tyler as he is at work in Tampa.Well better get out of here for now, LATER
Wednesday
The day started the usual with my quiet time, a "spot of green tea" with a bowl of oatmeal on the side before I headed to the rec to workout on the elliptical. Hopefully I can get a little pickle ball in tomorrow with the gang as they are relegated to just 2 days in the gym due to the summer camp for kids out of school. Anyhow I had a good hour workout with the bike ride to and from. After the workout I did the outside yard work before it got to blazing hot and believe me it did get hot by lunch time. After edging, clipping, raking and mowing I took the garden hose and cooled off, yikes was that ever refreshing.
Amy and the the grand babies came around 11:30 so we had lunch and then I had an appointment with a new insurance agent. After that Nancy and I played with them while Amy slipped out to get her hair cut and styled. Samuel really fights taking a nap as he like to be around all that's going on but Nancy finally rocked him to sleep for about 15 minutes. He is so cute and cuddly and Ava is quite the second mom to him. She loves her snacks.
Well after the kids left around 2:30 Nancy took off for the rec to get a workout in and I finished a read I brought from the public library in Sparta. I managed to get a 15 minute nap myself while she was gone as well. We were having out house church get together at 6:30 with a meal and pool party combined at the parents of Jon Perrys house. Wow do they ever have a nice pool and patio area for large gatherings. We had about 25 people there and room for lots more and the food was excellent with; BBQ pulled pork, macaroni salad, broccoli salad, pasta salad, corn casserole, salsa and all kinds of chips and soft drinks. We all had a great time and many thanks to Jim and Laurie for opening up their pool for our gathering.
Well its been non stop since we've been here and tonight(Thursday) is no different as we are taking GG and Pap out to dinner at the Bone Fish Grille in Largo and probably back here for some kind of card game. This morning I'm heading over to do some yard work for them before getting to the gym to play some pickle ball from noon to 2 PM, at least its inside the gym with a/c. Well I will close for now as Nancy is making her way to the computer after her quiet time. LATER
Amy and the the grand babies came around 11:30 so we had lunch and then I had an appointment with a new insurance agent. After that Nancy and I played with them while Amy slipped out to get her hair cut and styled. Samuel really fights taking a nap as he like to be around all that's going on but Nancy finally rocked him to sleep for about 15 minutes. He is so cute and cuddly and Ava is quite the second mom to him. She loves her snacks.
Well after the kids left around 2:30 Nancy took off for the rec to get a workout in and I finished a read I brought from the public library in Sparta. I managed to get a 15 minute nap myself while she was gone as well. We were having out house church get together at 6:30 with a meal and pool party combined at the parents of Jon Perrys house. Wow do they ever have a nice pool and patio area for large gatherings. We had about 25 people there and room for lots more and the food was excellent with; BBQ pulled pork, macaroni salad, broccoli salad, pasta salad, corn casserole, salsa and all kinds of chips and soft drinks. We all had a great time and many thanks to Jim and Laurie for opening up their pool for our gathering.
Well its been non stop since we've been here and tonight(Thursday) is no different as we are taking GG and Pap out to dinner at the Bone Fish Grille in Largo and probably back here for some kind of card game. This morning I'm heading over to do some yard work for them before getting to the gym to play some pickle ball from noon to 2 PM, at least its inside the gym with a/c. Well I will close for now as Nancy is making her way to the computer after her quiet time. LATER
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Tuesday
Well it was another HOT day in sunny humid Florida and after our quiet times and a bowl of oatmeal we headed to the rec to workout but the exercise room was closed for maintenance so we headed on over to Amy's as we were picking them up after our supposed workout. I walked across Seminole Blvd to my barber and had Patty lower my ears. Afterwards we headed back to our place as their car was being serviced at Twill Auto for their upcoming trip to the mountains for the 4th of July week. I watched both grand babies as Nancy and Amy took off for some shopping. I love watching and interacting with them both and especially Ava as long as I have snacks.
We cleaned up the leftover salad from last nights dinner with some ham and turkey on top. Yumm!! The girls then made ginger snap cookies and neighbor John and son Phoenix came by for a visit. After they left we took Amy and the kids home for their afternoon nap and we hit the workout room again at the rec. I did 45 minutes on the elliptical and ended with a very wet t-shirt. It wasn't quite as strenuous as the hike up the back trail but it would suffice for now plus I've put on at least 2 pounds by the scales in 4 days. Yikes and after tonight's roast lamb dinner with smashed spuds and gravy, green beans, salad, rolls and chocolate cake with white icing(which I passed up) its no wonder I haven't added at least 5 pounds or more. Tomorrow is our house church and there will be another dinner at least we have the pool at John's folks house to help work off some of the dinner. Should be a fun time and good to reconnect with many we haven't seen in over a month. Well its about to storm here with thunder in the distance and lightening started to fly around so I will call it another busy day. LATER
We cleaned up the leftover salad from last nights dinner with some ham and turkey on top. Yumm!! The girls then made ginger snap cookies and neighbor John and son Phoenix came by for a visit. After they left we took Amy and the kids home for their afternoon nap and we hit the workout room again at the rec. I did 45 minutes on the elliptical and ended with a very wet t-shirt. It wasn't quite as strenuous as the hike up the back trail but it would suffice for now plus I've put on at least 2 pounds by the scales in 4 days. Yikes and after tonight's roast lamb dinner with smashed spuds and gravy, green beans, salad, rolls and chocolate cake with white icing(which I passed up) its no wonder I haven't added at least 5 pounds or more. Tomorrow is our house church and there will be another dinner at least we have the pool at John's folks house to help work off some of the dinner. Should be a fun time and good to reconnect with many we haven't seen in over a month. Well its about to storm here with thunder in the distance and lightening started to fly around so I will call it another busy day. LATER
Sunday Evening and Monday
The house Sunday evening was full once again with family and the smell of roast pork, kielbasa and Nathan hot dogs that filled the air along with sauerkraut, smashed 'taters, salad and a fresh baked apple pie. What a feast and all in honor of Fathers Day. We had a great time playing with the Ava and Samuel, however we did miss Bobby, Jill and Annsley as other commitments kept them away.
Monday morning found us after our quiet times and bowl of oatmeal getting ready to head over to Valrico to have lunch with our friends Jerry and Becky. Wow do they ever have a beautiful place and he is a builder and contractor and did a hands on job with their home and pool designed for water volleyball. The lunch was dewisheous(as Annsley calls it) and afterwards we bored them with some of our photo albums of N.C. and family(letting our lunch settle)before we jumped in their pool. We had a good hour of volleyball play with lots of rally's, laughter and some of us did that without getting their mascara wet, guess who?? We had a super time and were surprised at how fast 4 hours slipped away. This is a must do again especially the volleyball rematch as we(Nancy and I) won in a close match.
Afterwards we headed out to Bob's and Nancy went with Bob and Annsley to their local pool while Jerry and I headed down to Sun City for some pickle ball on some recently built outside pickle ball courts that are top of the line at Valencia Gardens, Wow these are the best I've ever seen and the ambiance is first class. Jerry and I played for about an hour in the 93 degree temp's yet there was some cloud cover. It was only Jerry's second time to play and I see some love for the game as well as some potential to be reckoned with as he will only get better. Lots of fun and we both were sporting wet shirts afterwards. He dropped me off at Bob's which was close by.
We spent the rest of the evening playing with Annsley and eventually Jill's folks, Brian and Susan as well as most pregnant Laura(Jill's sister) along with husband Josh and then Amy, Tyler, Ava and Samuel arrived for another big family dinner. Bob created this masterpiece meat ball(ground his own meats) with a marinara sauce over pasta, best I've ever eaten along with a salad, bread and of course homemade pies and cobbler with vanilla ice cream on top. We stayed, played, laughed and talked about kids, grand kids and newbies to be born and related experiences for the new parents(Josh and Laura) to look forward too. Time just flew by and before you knew it, it was 9 PM but the kids were going strong. Anyhow some of us had to work the next day so we headed out for home.
It was great to have both of our kids and their kids together and of course the food was sumptuous and we are planning another luncheon on Friday with a get together for the grand babies to play and of course for us to eat before we get ready to head back to the mountains on Sunday. Later
Monday morning found us after our quiet times and bowl of oatmeal getting ready to head over to Valrico to have lunch with our friends Jerry and Becky. Wow do they ever have a beautiful place and he is a builder and contractor and did a hands on job with their home and pool designed for water volleyball. The lunch was dewisheous(as Annsley calls it) and afterwards we bored them with some of our photo albums of N.C. and family(letting our lunch settle)before we jumped in their pool. We had a good hour of volleyball play with lots of rally's, laughter and some of us did that without getting their mascara wet, guess who?? We had a super time and were surprised at how fast 4 hours slipped away. This is a must do again especially the volleyball rematch as we(Nancy and I) won in a close match.
Afterwards we headed out to Bob's and Nancy went with Bob and Annsley to their local pool while Jerry and I headed down to Sun City for some pickle ball on some recently built outside pickle ball courts that are top of the line at Valencia Gardens, Wow these are the best I've ever seen and the ambiance is first class. Jerry and I played for about an hour in the 93 degree temp's yet there was some cloud cover. It was only Jerry's second time to play and I see some love for the game as well as some potential to be reckoned with as he will only get better. Lots of fun and we both were sporting wet shirts afterwards. He dropped me off at Bob's which was close by.
We spent the rest of the evening playing with Annsley and eventually Jill's folks, Brian and Susan as well as most pregnant Laura(Jill's sister) along with husband Josh and then Amy, Tyler, Ava and Samuel arrived for another big family dinner. Bob created this masterpiece meat ball(ground his own meats) with a marinara sauce over pasta, best I've ever eaten along with a salad, bread and of course homemade pies and cobbler with vanilla ice cream on top. We stayed, played, laughed and talked about kids, grand kids and newbies to be born and related experiences for the new parents(Josh and Laura) to look forward too. Time just flew by and before you knew it, it was 9 PM but the kids were going strong. Anyhow some of us had to work the next day so we headed out for home.
It was great to have both of our kids and their kids together and of course the food was sumptuous and we are planning another luncheon on Friday with a get together for the grand babies to play and of course for us to eat before we get ready to head back to the mountains on Sunday. Later
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Saturday with Sam
Sam is quite a happy little feller. We got to watch him all of Saturday afternoon while his parents took his big sister to see Toy Story 3. We had a great time with him.
Pictures from Friday and Saturday
Friday evening after reaching Florida and a good meal. The kids were so cute and I'm sure they thought who were these ragged travelers.Friday, Saturday and Sunday Morning
Sorry I've been lazy since getting back to Florida but I just want mention we had a great trip down with very little traffic after we left the cabin at 4:30 in the morning. It was such a beautiful morning with 57 degrees and the stars were so bright(no pollution) that one could almost reach out and touch them, anyhow when we reached the deep south Georgia/Florida border were were showing 95 outside, yikes that's a bit warm, about 15 degrees warmer than anything we had experienced in the past 5 weeks. We made Tampa Town at 2 PM which was the quickest ever and actually stopped by Sam's to get goodies for this next week of meals, stopped by GG and Pap's house to pick up the old time roaster and to visit and still made it home by 3:30, wow were we ever time efficient. After unpacking we headed over to Amy and Tyler's to love up on Ava and Samuel and of course their parents. It's amazing how much little ones change in such a short period of time. Ava was delightful and very loving and Samuel is such a smiley baby and so strong. Amy had prepared one of her specialties; spaghetti and meatballs which a great toss salad using some of Tyler's homegrown 'maters. We had a great evening and I could feel myself starting to wind down around 9PM so we headed out.
After getting ready for bed I just laid there as all the sounds; sirens, cars, motorcycles and dogs barking would not let me sleep and the bed made a difference and especially the a/c running. It's the same when we head back as we can "hear the quietness" at the cabin, oh well its good to be home for awhile but not really excited about the smothering humidity and heat.
Saturday morning we were up around 6:30 as I really wanted to get a good ocean swim in as we are only a few minutes from the beach. So we headed out and hooked up with our friends and neighbors Dan and Carol. The water was so clear and warm, almost to warm. We took a good walk in the surf then I swam for several minutes before it got just too hot to be anywhere but in the water. The exercise was great and just enough rollers to make it interesting and fun. Luckily we haven't seen any oil down our way from the oil rig explosion that happen near the coast of Louisiana several weeks ago.
After getting back from the beach Nancy headed out to satisfy her "fix" of shopping at Publix's and I headed to the back yard gardens. There I had left the garden which was still producing a little when we left so that anyone could pick the remaining veggie's, anyhow of course with no rain and high heat the only thing growing was weeds about waist high. I pulled them and then spread about 8 large plastic bags of leaves over the garden so the earthworms could have something to munch until planting time again in October.
After a salad for lunch we were waiting on our grandson, Samuel to arrive as Amy and Tyler were taking Ava to see Toy Story#3. We had a super time playing and spoiling him and he entertained us with his sweet personality, he is such a smiley child and doesn't want to miss a thing as he would only catnap from time to time. Nancy got him to take a bottle(filled with Amy's milk) which he doesn't usually do and I laid down on the bed with him as he played with his toes and feet and smiled the whole time. He never fussed at all even when he was still awake around 9 when everyone left for home.
We had GG and Pap as well as the Ross family for grilled chicken, new spuds, yellow squash and salad for supper and we are having the same gang again this evening for Fathers Day dinner of roast pork, sauerkraut, kielbasa smashed spuds and salad and some dessert. Bobby and Jill can't make it today so we are heading to Riverview on Monday for lunch date with friends Jerry and Becky Hoffman then over to Bob's for and afternoon in the pool with grand daughter Annsley and then Bob is cooking a dinner for Brian(Jill's dad) and me on Monday evening as our Father's Day treat. As you read this post notice about all we do is eat but it's great to be with family and especially the grand babies.
Well we are getting ready to head to Tampa for worship this AM at Element Church, if your not busy we are near the corner at Causeway Blvd and US 41. LATER
After getting ready for bed I just laid there as all the sounds; sirens, cars, motorcycles and dogs barking would not let me sleep and the bed made a difference and especially the a/c running. It's the same when we head back as we can "hear the quietness" at the cabin, oh well its good to be home for awhile but not really excited about the smothering humidity and heat.
Saturday morning we were up around 6:30 as I really wanted to get a good ocean swim in as we are only a few minutes from the beach. So we headed out and hooked up with our friends and neighbors Dan and Carol. The water was so clear and warm, almost to warm. We took a good walk in the surf then I swam for several minutes before it got just too hot to be anywhere but in the water. The exercise was great and just enough rollers to make it interesting and fun. Luckily we haven't seen any oil down our way from the oil rig explosion that happen near the coast of Louisiana several weeks ago.
After getting back from the beach Nancy headed out to satisfy her "fix" of shopping at Publix's and I headed to the back yard gardens. There I had left the garden which was still producing a little when we left so that anyone could pick the remaining veggie's, anyhow of course with no rain and high heat the only thing growing was weeds about waist high. I pulled them and then spread about 8 large plastic bags of leaves over the garden so the earthworms could have something to munch until planting time again in October.
After a salad for lunch we were waiting on our grandson, Samuel to arrive as Amy and Tyler were taking Ava to see Toy Story#3. We had a super time playing and spoiling him and he entertained us with his sweet personality, he is such a smiley child and doesn't want to miss a thing as he would only catnap from time to time. Nancy got him to take a bottle(filled with Amy's milk) which he doesn't usually do and I laid down on the bed with him as he played with his toes and feet and smiled the whole time. He never fussed at all even when he was still awake around 9 when everyone left for home.
We had GG and Pap as well as the Ross family for grilled chicken, new spuds, yellow squash and salad for supper and we are having the same gang again this evening for Fathers Day dinner of roast pork, sauerkraut, kielbasa smashed spuds and salad and some dessert. Bobby and Jill can't make it today so we are heading to Riverview on Monday for lunch date with friends Jerry and Becky Hoffman then over to Bob's for and afternoon in the pool with grand daughter Annsley and then Bob is cooking a dinner for Brian(Jill's dad) and me on Monday evening as our Father's Day treat. As you read this post notice about all we do is eat but it's great to be with family and especially the grand babies.
Well we are getting ready to head to Tampa for worship this AM at Element Church, if your not busy we are near the corner at Causeway Blvd and US 41. LATER
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Wednesday and Thursday Morning
Well the day started out a little on the warm side as we emerged from a 7 o'clock sleep in and after our quiet times and a bowl of oatmeal we got to "crack a lackin" as we were expecting our second family visit this summer. My first cousin Tammy, husband Rich and daughters Megan(11) and Brooke(7) were driving up from Shallotte, NC to take the girls to camp at Nebo, NC and decided to visit us en route. Its their first time in the mountains so I decided to give them a real first time treat of hiking to the top of our mountain. We all made it some more easier than others but we certainly did work up an appetite for those hickory smoked ribs that had been in the smoker since 11 AM. They declined the offer of working up an appetite for breakfast.
The morning found some of us up after 7 once again and Nancy once again prepared a mountain breakfast of cakes, eggs and country ham, YUMM to that again as some were not breakfast eaters. The gang decided to head out just before lunch and head down to Blowing Rock to fram around before heading down to the camp. The morning started out with temps down in the 60's with a nice breeze and the lower humidity. The girls got in a couple checker games and played quite well for their ages. Well it was good to re-connect with Tammy and the family as Nancy had never met Rich and the girls.
Well after they left we did some laundry and I transplanted some yellow squash seedlings and then took all the plants and stored them down below the back porch near the drip line. We then took off for a hike and came back to eat a salad for lunch. Well it will be good to see our babies and grand babies as well as Nancy's folks. Next week is nearly filled as it looks like no pickle ball until next Thursday. Certainly hope I can get in at least one day of play.
Well will get out of here as we will be traveling on Friday. LATER
The morning found some of us up after 7 once again and Nancy once again prepared a mountain breakfast of cakes, eggs and country ham, YUMM to that again as some were not breakfast eaters. The gang decided to head out just before lunch and head down to Blowing Rock to fram around before heading down to the camp. The morning started out with temps down in the 60's with a nice breeze and the lower humidity. The girls got in a couple checker games and played quite well for their ages. Well it was good to re-connect with Tammy and the family as Nancy had never met Rich and the girls.
Well after they left we did some laundry and I transplanted some yellow squash seedlings and then took all the plants and stored them down below the back porch near the drip line. We then took off for a hike and came back to eat a salad for lunch. Well it will be good to see our babies and grand babies as well as Nancy's folks. Next week is nearly filled as it looks like no pickle ball until next Thursday. Certainly hope I can get in at least one day of play.
Well will get out of here as we will be traveling on Friday. LATER
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Tuesday
Well it was another warm morning and it reached 80+ today, however we did get a little shower around 4 o'clock which cooled things off. After sleeping in until 7, I rolled out and did my usual with a cup of green tea, my quiet time and a bowl of oatmeal with cinnamon and honey. We forgot to buy fruit at the store yesterday for some reason except for green bananas, oh well!
After checking for slug damage which seemed a little less due to all the ones I squashed last night and hopefully the snail and slug poison helped as well. Tonight I checked just before dark and found only about 20 or so and none where I spread the poison last night, so that's a good sign, I think. I then cranked up the weed whacker and edge the yards which took a couple hours and by this time Nancy was ready for our morning hike, so we took off for the top. It was an uneventful walk except for a big deer(doe) which jumped out as we reached the top, we saw and stopped to speak with Norman as he was out an about. It sure was threatening rain off and on most of the morning but held of until later in the day. We got back and Nancy made a couple ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch.
After lunch I cranked up the riding mower and mowed all of the yards which took another couple hours but so much easier now that we have the riding mower. I finally finished around 3:30 then a planted some of the lettuce which escaped the slugs in the same spot where they ate the okra only this time I treated the soil with the poison. We will see in the morning as that will tell me if the poison is really any good as a deterrent for these voracious eaters.
Nancy made a pot of pasta with fresh basil, garlic, butter and oregano and I fried up some fish outside on the grille and add a fresh salad for a great supper. After the clean up we took the golf cart over to Helen's for a short visit as we won't see her until we get back here after Fathers Day. Her tomato plants are blooming and look as if they will make, she has no problem with slugs but she did have some worms on her Mountain Ash tree last week and today she found her first Japanese beetle as did we. Yuck they are nearly as bad as slugs, whats with the bug problem this year? It looks like it will be a bumper crop of blackberries as her field is full of them as is our wineberries. We also noticed she has an abundant crop of chicky pins, they are sorta like a chestnut and grow wild.
After getting back from our visit we took off up the mountain for our second hike of the day but in reverse. It seemed the humidity came back and by the time we got back to the cabin I had worked up a sweat. Well tomorrow is a big day with some family visiting for the first time so I will crank up the smoker for some hickory smoked ribs and whatever Nancy has planned. Should be a fun time. LATER
After checking for slug damage which seemed a little less due to all the ones I squashed last night and hopefully the snail and slug poison helped as well. Tonight I checked just before dark and found only about 20 or so and none where I spread the poison last night, so that's a good sign, I think. I then cranked up the weed whacker and edge the yards which took a couple hours and by this time Nancy was ready for our morning hike, so we took off for the top. It was an uneventful walk except for a big deer(doe) which jumped out as we reached the top, we saw and stopped to speak with Norman as he was out an about. It sure was threatening rain off and on most of the morning but held of until later in the day. We got back and Nancy made a couple ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch.
After lunch I cranked up the riding mower and mowed all of the yards which took another couple hours but so much easier now that we have the riding mower. I finally finished around 3:30 then a planted some of the lettuce which escaped the slugs in the same spot where they ate the okra only this time I treated the soil with the poison. We will see in the morning as that will tell me if the poison is really any good as a deterrent for these voracious eaters.
Nancy made a pot of pasta with fresh basil, garlic, butter and oregano and I fried up some fish outside on the grille and add a fresh salad for a great supper. After the clean up we took the golf cart over to Helen's for a short visit as we won't see her until we get back here after Fathers Day. Her tomato plants are blooming and look as if they will make, she has no problem with slugs but she did have some worms on her Mountain Ash tree last week and today she found her first Japanese beetle as did we. Yuck they are nearly as bad as slugs, whats with the bug problem this year? It looks like it will be a bumper crop of blackberries as her field is full of them as is our wineberries. We also noticed she has an abundant crop of chicky pins, they are sorta like a chestnut and grow wild.
After getting back from our visit we took off up the mountain for our second hike of the day but in reverse. It seemed the humidity came back and by the time we got back to the cabin I had worked up a sweat. Well tomorrow is a big day with some family visiting for the first time so I will crank up the smoker for some hickory smoked ribs and whatever Nancy has planned. Should be a fun time. LATER
Monday, June 14, 2010
Monday
Well I rolled over this morning and slept in until 7 o'clock which is really unusual as my internal alarm has me awake before 6, oh well. After my quiet time I headed out to check on slug damage and believe me they can do a lot in one night and of course many of them were still on the plants. The second best way of doing them in is to squash them; either with your fingers or flinging them on the ground and stepping on them. I would think as sticky as they are there should be some commercial value for their slime.This evening after our walk which we didn't take until 7 o'clock,we came back and I started checking plants and I know I picked off 25 of them from one of Nancy's flowering plants. I picked, squashed and stepped on at least a hundred or more until it got so dark I couldn't see them. I added another "slug motel" with a wet bar in the front flower bed. Hopefully they will fill up the can of Budweiser over night. I purchased some poison specifically for slugs today at Walmart and spread it as directed but the slugs acted like that was dessert as they crawled in and over it to get to the plants, Oh well!!!
We did a trip to Galax, Va around 10 this AM and didn't get back to the cabin until 1:30 after making several stops. It was 86 in Galax and 84 here but shortly after eating a bite of lunch the skies darkened and the wind came up and a steady rain fell for about an hour and dropped the temp's back to 70 and once again made it pleasant. I sat out on the porch and read for an hour while it rained, before transplanting some new marigold seedlings I planted a couple days ago. It was close to 6 before we ever started on supper as we had such a late lunch. I grilled a couple pork chops(bone-in), microwaved a couple sweet 'taters and Nancy made a fresh salad. Good eatin'.
Well we got a conformation on our guests arriving Wednesday afternoon so we will not only be getting ready for them but also getting ready to leave out of here about 4 AM on Friday morning as we head back to Florida for Fathers Day and to visit with family and especially grand kids.
Well I have about a dozen little green 'maters, cuke's are blooming and the green onions(scallions) are ready to eat. Not much else is going on with the veggie's as the peas, lettuce and okra are wiped out by the slimy slugs. Not sure if anything will be left when we are scheduled to return in about 8 days. LATER
We did a trip to Galax, Va around 10 this AM and didn't get back to the cabin until 1:30 after making several stops. It was 86 in Galax and 84 here but shortly after eating a bite of lunch the skies darkened and the wind came up and a steady rain fell for about an hour and dropped the temp's back to 70 and once again made it pleasant. I sat out on the porch and read for an hour while it rained, before transplanting some new marigold seedlings I planted a couple days ago. It was close to 6 before we ever started on supper as we had such a late lunch. I grilled a couple pork chops(bone-in), microwaved a couple sweet 'taters and Nancy made a fresh salad. Good eatin'.
Well we got a conformation on our guests arriving Wednesday afternoon so we will not only be getting ready for them but also getting ready to leave out of here about 4 AM on Friday morning as we head back to Florida for Fathers Day and to visit with family and especially grand kids.
Well I have about a dozen little green 'maters, cuke's are blooming and the green onions(scallions) are ready to eat. Not much else is going on with the veggie's as the peas, lettuce and okra are wiped out by the slimy slugs. Not sure if anything will be left when we are scheduled to return in about 8 days. LATER
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Pictures from Sundays Hike
The dog is Zeke who lives on top of the mountain and greets us everyday we walk. The cat is Teddy Roosevelt who likes to follow us as well unless Zeke is around. The long distance views are just fun to look and the smells after a lite rain is just indescribable. There is a couple shots of the trail that run along side a fence that ends on the back road and of course some flower shots with Old Glory. The Shasta Daisy's are headed up and just about really to burst open with beautiful vibrant colors and then of course there is a shot of my lower garden which is holding its own now that we've had over 2 1/2 inches of rain since yesterday. Nancy nearly broke her neck as she set the timer and ran down the hill to get a picture of the 2 of us. That was a one time shot. LATER
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