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