Friday

Yikes, there was ice all over the truck and the roof of the cabin this morning and with temps into the low 30's it was downright cold especially with the wind. After our quiet times Nancy fried up some Jimmy Dean sausage and along with a couple of the Dalton's home grown eggs and some black raspberry jelly on toast it sure made for a delicious way to start the day. I headed down to the basement to get the washing machine ready for a couple loads of laundry. Yeow, was it ever cold hanging the wet clothes out but oh my what a sweet smell the dried clothes exhibited. I pulled out the plants in the basement as it started to warm up pretty rapidly with the bright sunshine and placed them in the yard. There was water dripping from the roof like it was raining; but it was only the sun melting all the ice on the roof.

We decided to head out to the top of the mountain with the temps in the high 30's but the sunshine was bright and it made for a great walk in the woods. The wind was strong on top but down below in the woods it almost seemed warm even though Nancy was dressed like she was in Alaska. I has a sweater on but was quite comfortable while we were walking. We stopped at Normans and found out he was under the weather since getting his flu shot last week, but he seemed to be in good spirits despite having a lot of upper respiratory flu type symptoms. After leaving Norm's we headed on back to the cabin and the temps finally reached 40 degrees and with the bright sunshine it really felt nice. We headed in to get ready to head to Sparta after a bowl of Ramen noodle soup, yumm did that ever taste good on a cold day.

It was good to see that my blood tests results indicate I'm back in the normal parameters and all else seemed to please Dr. K with how I was progressing from the blood clot in the left leg. It seems after another couple weeks of cumadin I can stop this medication as well as the bi-weekly blood tests. We said good-bye to the staff there and received lots of well wishes and hugs. They are some of the nicest professional folks we have ever encountered and we almost feel like family, plus all the good care Nancy and I have received this summer. We were saddened to think we wouldn't see them again until next May.

I dropped off my prescription at the drugstore and then stopped off at Lowes grocery for some travel food for Monday's trip back to Florida; sliced deli ham and rosemary bread. We saw a church member, Diana as well as our mountain top neighbor Brenda at the grocery. There were lots of well wishes from them plus lots of hugs as well and the dreaded thought of them facing another cold and snowy winter here in the mountains. We just love this small town atmosphere and no matter where ever you go you meet and know someone who wishes you well.

The sun was shining brightly but there were dark grey clouds whiched indicated some moisture in them. When we got home from town I wanted to take another walk even though the temps had dropped back down to the low 40's, but the air was so clean, crisp and refreshing so we headed out to the top once again with a few side tracks off into the woods. The view was magnificent once again from the top and with the cold air we could see the buildings in downtown Winston-Salem some 70 miles away. We checked on an aged neighbor Helen as we noticed her garage door up on the morning walk and was still up some 5-6 hours later. She answered the door and seemed fine and was appreciative we took a moment to check on her, especially as she lives alone with no real close neighbors.

We headed on down after the walk and while I was taking down the laundry from the clothes line snow flakes began to fall for a couple of minutes. Mechelle was on the land line telling us it was really snowing hard in Laurel Springs which is located in the southern area of the county. We are hoping there will be enough to lay on the ground for pictures before leaving Monday morning, but if not we will have had our fill of cold temps for quite awhile.

We finished the last of the salad along with the leftover pasta and a can of collard greens to go with some amazing fried fish for supper, Yumm what a supper!!! Well we are buttoned down in the warm cozy cabin for the night. Darkness is here a little after 6 PM with the mountains blocking out the sunlight. I just checked the temperature on the back porch and its right around freezing, Yikes, I'm sure glad I dug up some of my plants this morning and last night and placed them in the basement for tonight as its going to be down into the low 20's. LATER