Tuesday

Well once again it was a rather hot and muggy day but at least there was a breeze so it was tolerable underneath the big oak in the front yard. After my usual quiet time and a lite breakfast I pedalled out to the rec for 2 1/2 hours of pickle ball, wow what a workout and I was not the only one with a sweat soaked t-shirt. Afterwards I headed back to the house to do some watering while Nancy ran her errands. I had been putting off digging across the front of the house between the big oak and the house to intercept and cut any roots that might try to get up under the house. Last week or so I tried to plant some inpatients along the front of the house and it was nearly impossible because of all the oak tree roots. I cut out and drilled through a wheel barrow load of roots. I took and 18 inch drill and drilled through a couple big roots that I couldn't get too without destroying my recently planted flowers so I just drilled through them and hopefully that will kill the root or at least slow down their getting bigger until next fall.

I worked at that chore until nearly 3 PM then decided to hand water the front yard grass plugs before heading to the back yard to hand water the back gardens. Wow I never sat down all day except for a quick salad for lunch. Nancy headed out to the rec for her workout while I watered. When she got back it was going on 5 PM so we got ready to start some supper. She had picked up a nice egg plant at the veggie stand on her way home from her errands so she fried that in olive oil and I garnished it with fresh oregano, thyme and basil. Yeow that was the best ever as we tried olive oil for frying and fresh herbs made it dewisheous(Annsley's pronunciation). I had picked a bunch of basil to go in the fresh sauteed mushrooms, fresh garlic and onions that were cooking to go over the Pennie pasta, Yikes that was the best yet with a little red pepper and Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top, Ummm GOOD!!! So it was a meatless supper for a change but I was mentioning to Nancy if I had the availability of deer meat year round I wouldn't ever eat beef again its that good.

Well not much else is going on except its supposed to only be in the 70's tomorrow and I'm looking forward to opening the windows once again. Just an update on the garden; beans will be ready to pick along with some fresh lettuce next week. Tomato plants continue to set little green ones and the cucumber plant has blooms. The Swiss chard is growing as well is the kale, broccoli's and the sugar peas. The pepper plants I brought back from the cabin have new leaves and some new little green peppers as well. The new red pepper plants I started from seeds now have about 6 leaves each and its almost time to put them in the ground. LATER

Monday

Well the day started early as Nancy kept me awake with her nose symphony as she has the beginning's of either a cold or some allergies, anyhow after my quiet time, spot of green tea and a bowl of oatmeal with a banana I pedalled out to the rec on my bike for some pickle ball. The rec was hosting its first in house pickle ball tournament sponsored by our new senior adult leader, Kristen and assisted by Jersey Jim. We had about 8 teams to compete in both the men's doubles and mixed doubles. I was fortunate enough to have younger pardners in both classes and we prevailed with first place wins in both. My thanks to Larry and Mitsuko for playing so well and allowing me to be part of the winning teams. We played until about 11 AM and there was some good play had by all the teams. I was a little surprised there were only 8 teams entered as we have upwards of 18-20 active players.

After leaving the rec I stopped by the library for a read I had on hold then hurried home to hang laundry,water the gardens and pedal over to Amy's place to water their garden as well. I enjoyed a peanut butter sandwich for lunch then just chilled for awhile reading until the Payne's came by for some fresh homegrown collards. I picked them 2 shopping bags full. After they left I took in the dried laundry and set the sprinklers once again in the front yard. Nancy got home shortly afterwards and headed to the rec for 30 minutes on the treadmill.

I snapped the fresh green beans I had picked from Tyler's garden and Nancy fried up some tenderized deer tenderloin the Dalton Gang so generously gave us, along with the left over spuds from Friday night. I even made a milk gravy from the deer drippings and then put that over the fried deer, YUMM!! Well it has turned warm and humid again as we wait the approach of a cold snap heading our way on Wednesday, so the a/c is once again back on. It's supposed to drop into the 40's for a couple nights with a high in the 70's for the day time later this week. LATER

Sunday

Well what an awesome day of worship, eating and spending time with the infirmed at a local nursing home. After our quiet times and a breakfast of the last of the pecan pies with the Pioneer Woman cream sauce, we got ready to head to Tampa at Element. We were having a Sunday brunch and a service of what we were thankful for as that went with the holiday. There was a huge crowd with tons of kids and I believe 8 or 9 babies were dedicated along with our newest grand son Gabriel. After the service we headed back to Seminole right a way as neighbor Dan was leading the service at Freedom Square nursing home and that has been a part of the way Nancy and I reaching out to the community for the last several years. We go and push wheel chairs, help lead with the singing and sometimes even bring the message, devotion or just share some of life experiences with these who are infirmed.

After the nursing home I vegetated on the couch while moving the sprinkler around in the front yard on the new grass plugs and watched the NFL. Nancy headed out to her parents where sister Betsy and niece Arianne were chillin before she had to leave for Miami. They eventually all took off for Bonefish Grille for dinner. Not much else was happening for the day so I just watched football until time for bed. LATER Enclosed are a few pics of the Christmas decor Nancy put up Saturday.

Saturday

It was another beautiful morning with a cool breeze lowering the temps enough to once again turn off the a/c which we had to turn on Friday night, Nancy and her mom were having hot flashes anyhow after our quiet times and a wicked breakfast for me I ventured out to the garden and yards. I passed on the pumpkin pie Thanksgiving Day at dinner so I made up for it by devouring the last of the pie, 2 rather healthy pieces for breakfast. Needless to say that held me until about 3 PM when I had a handful of pretzels and some Cheetos. I knew we were having a crowd for supper with tons of eats so I coasted until then.

I transplanted some zinnias and marigolds as well as bulbs then weeded the beets and parsnips. This is the first time I've ever tried growing them, parsnips. They are a delicious root veggie much like a carrots but only sweeter. I bought a package at the veggie stand last year and loved them. They are up about and inch. My tomato plants have grown 3 feet in height since we've been home and are loaded with small green tomato's as well as the 1/2 runner beans have climbed my poles and are settings beans as well. I should have both for Christmas dinner. The beet greens are magnificent and oh so pretty and delicious as well as the transplanted lettuce seedlings will be ready for the salad bowl in a week or so. Kale, broccoli and snow peas are coming along as well. The collards are huge and I called our Galax friends who live near us to come on Monday and get a mess. They freeze them as well for later dates. Well that's about all the updates on the veggies except the radishes are growing as well is the cucumber plant. I have a volunteer potato plant that is a couple feet tall from peelings I've composted, curious to see if it will make. The front yard grass plugs are growing as well as the Bahia sod. I've been watering it everyday as well as sprinkling a little fertilizer around it as well.

Well Nancy got in the mood to put the Christmas Tree and other decorations up so I was in the attic getting down all these tubs of stuff. Our tree would make our mountain friends probably think twice about us because we have a synthetic one but its beautiful. Thanks to the Dalton Gang we get the real tree smell from the wreath they made and sent home with us. If and when we finally move to the cabin we will decorate our 2 large blue spruce's in the front yard but they will probably be too big by then, oh well it was a passing thought( the move permanently).

We were having Nancy's folks, GG, Pap, sister Betsy and niece Arianne for supper and it was dewisheous(Annsley word) with bone in pork chop, red spuds with fresh parsley, buttered carrots and a cooked spinach casserole and a fresh salad and of course a loaf of French bread. They all had warmed brownies with ice cream and whipped cream for dessert, I passed on that as I picked every one's pork chop bones, that was my dessert. Anyhow Pap and I watched tons of football while the gals sat in front of Ariannes computer looking, laughing and dissecting every photo for over 3 hours and they still wanted to do more but it was 11 PM and Pap and I were ready for the showers and some horizontal lab. Finally they left around 11:30 as we had to say good-by to Arianne as she heads back to Miami where she is a private school teacher, she also teaches voice and piano. Such a beautiful, talented, and single young woman. I think she is having so much fun going all over the world she hasn't really decided to settle down and copy her mother and sister who have 17 kids between them. She comes from a family with 11 children and her older sister(4 years older) has 6 all under the age of 7. Yikes that would be enough to make anyone decide to stay single plus all she has to do is visit and she gets her maternal nurturing fulfilled, anyhow she is such a delight and a fun gal and what a talker and laughter. She has us all hanging on to her every word.

Since I'm writing this Sunday morning we must get ready for worship at Element and we are having brunch there as well. Check out her picture on Friday's blog; Arianne is the one with the dark black hair with her hands on Annsley back in the picture with Jill's sisters. LATER

Friday

Well it was a relaxed day with not much of anything going on except for the usual morning routine of my quiet time and a lite breakfast after sleeping in until nearly 7 AM. We got back from Riverview around 10:30 last night after a great Thanksgiving Day dinner with son Bobby at his house. We sure missed Jill's mom and dad as Susan was recovering from surgery a couple day ago. Leslie and Kristin were there but Laura and her family had gone to Arkansas. These last 3 gals are all Jill's sisters.

I did a little hand watering the gardens and yard before heading over to Amy and Tyler's to water their garden then headed to the library on the bike but they were closed today. Not much else went on except for a little football in the afternoon as Nancy took off with her mom, GG and niece Arianne to the mall then to the movie Rapunzel. Oh well!!! They got back around 5 PM then we had her cream tuna on biscuits with green peas for supper. It looks as if GG, Pap and Arianne are coming around 7:30 for some cards and then we can eat the left over desserts of pumpkin and pecan pies.

I'm going to include a few pics from yesterday dinner at Bob's. LATER

Thursday(THANKSGIVING DAY)

Well it's a warm breezy day here in sunny Florida as we get ready to head over to son Bobby's house this afternoon for a big dinner with family and friends. I spent the morning after our quiet time watering the gardens and the front yard plugs. The garden is doing great and I picked enough beet greens to share with neighbor Carol last evening.

Well we were able to see Nancy's high school band from Seminole, Florida on the Macy's Day parade this morning as they were one of only 12 featured bands, what an honor for those group of high schooler's and for Seminole.

We have the windows open with a nice breeze and its just delicious with the smell of pumpkin pies baking in the oven. We are taking 2 pumpkin and 2 pecan pies with Pioneer Woman's whiskey sauce as well as spinach dip, green peas with white onions and mushrooms. GG and Pap are riding with us and she is making her famous dried stuffing and candied yams. I think I may take a bottle of homemade blackberry wine as well. Well it should be a day of renewing friendships and eating lots of high calorie foods.

Nancy and I are so thankful for our family and friends and all the blessings that GOD has made possible for us to share. LATER

Wednesday

Well another great day with warm temp's in the low 80's and a nice fresh, clean, cool 50's this morning. After my usual quiet time and a couple slices of banana nut bread for breakfast I pedalled out to the rec for some pickle ball. We had 12-14 players for the day and we will be off until next Monday when we have an in-house tournament. I'll be participating in both men's doubles and mixed doubles. Should be a fun time with lots of good play.

After leaving the rec I dropped by the library for a read before heading home to water the gardens, yard and transplant some lettuce seedlings. After a lite lunch of salad I headed over to water Tyler's garden and to pick a couple handfuls of green beans. I then helped neighbor Carol with a few little odd jobs before heading into the back yard to read awhile. Nancy was frying some fish along with white rice and asparagus for supper.

Well tomorrow is turkey day and we are heading over to Riverview which is about 50 miles one way for dinner with son, Bobby. We should have a big crowd as several out of town guests as well as lots of family here in Florida will be there. Too bad Bobby's mother-in-law, Susan was just operated on and will miss this special occasion. We certainly wish her well and for a speedy recovery.

Check out the real turkey and his side kick who live next door. My garden is starting to grow as well as the beautiful purple orchids. LATER

Tuesday

Well I was awake early this morning as Nancy was conducting her symphony while in the horizontal position, yikes am I a lite sleeper. After our quiet times and a lite breakfast of banana bread with a cup of hot green tea I got ready and pedalled out to the rec for some pickle ball. We had about a dozen or so players and we played hard for about 2 1/2 hours. After pickle ball I hand watered the garden until it was time to head out to Sam's Club.

We did some last minute shopping for our turkey day dinner at both Sam's and Publix's before heading on back to the house for a late lite lunch. After lunch I headed out to finish watering the gardens and front yard with all the grass plugs. I sat out in the yard and read for about an hour before it was time to pick collard greens and put a couple pork chops on the grille. We finished up the left over turnip casserole along with the last of the parsley spuds to go along with the sauteed greens. Yumm good eatin' even it the taters and turnips were left overs.

Boy am I tired tonight especially after the work out this morning on the pickle ball court. LATER

Monday

Well today was a really busy one with pickle ball after our usual routine of quiet times and a lite breakfast. We had a good 2 plus hours of work out on the court and I left with a wet shirt; a good sign for me as well as many others. I pedalled home to work outside in the yard and garden until Nancy called me for a lunch of salad. She did her thing on the treadmill while I transplanted about a dozen Swiss Chard's and 1/2 dozen kale seedlings I had brought back from the cabin a couple weeks ago. I still have 5 red pepper seedlings to put in the ground as soon as they get a little bigger. The broccoli plants are looking good as well as the replant of the sugar peas which are up along with the radishes and sweet onions. I picked a handful of young tender beets greens for our salad and were they ever tasty along with some fresh basil, hummm!!!

After lunch I jumped on the bike and headed over to Amy and Tyler's to water his garden which is coming along nicely, he should have green beans to eat by the time they get back from their holiday with his family in Hayes, Kansas. I hand watered my new plugs and pulled weeds for an hour or so in the front yard before heading to the back yard to dig up a vine and replant it to the fence on the turkey side of the yard, hopefully it will live and help to hide some of the trash this neighbor has piled everywhere along with all of their critters. The critters are fun but old rusted bicycles and everything else from canoe's, piled up tree trimmings, toppers, cages, etc are such an eye sore its embarrassing.

We got ready after the yard work to head over to Bob and Jill's to look after the kids while they went out to celebrate their 7th anniversary at the Cheesecake Factory in Tampa. We had such a good time with Annsley and Gabey, he is really a little porker with over 5 pounds gained in 2 months, I see a chance for a linebacker position in the NFL at this rate. We had a great time and Bob made a scrumptious homemade pizza for supper. The kids really love their bath time and of course Annsley and Nancy were just pals as they played together. We shared lots of laughter as she is so smart and knows the ending of all nursery rhymes as I tried to fool her with different endings. We left there around 9 o'clock to head back to Seminole which is about 50 miles away.

Well it was a busy fun day and we are heading back over on Thursday as Bobby likes to have all of the family there for a tradition which started a couple years ago. We are sorry to hear Susan(Jill's mom)won't make it as she is in the hospital for surgery on Tuesday so we will just have to take her a plate. Keep her in your thoughts and prayers. I will enclose a couple pics from Monday's visit. LATER

Sunday

Well it turned out to be once again another beautiful day with temps as low as in the 60's and the high reaching the low 80's. After our quiet times and a bowl of oatmeal with a banana for breakfast we got ready to head out to Element Church in Tampa for worship with son, Bobby. There was a large crowd with lots of new babies, however we missed seeing grand babies Annsley and Gabriel as both received shots this week and seemed to be experiencing some reaction with runny noses and slight temperatures so they stayed home from church. We are heading over tomorrow evening to babysit as Bobby is taking Jill out to dinner for their 7 th anniversary which is tomorrow.

After getting back from Tampa I vegetated on the couch watching the NFL and then waited for GG and Pap to come by then we headed out to the Bonefish Grille for dinner. Once again we had a marvelous meal with each person having something different from; shrimp and scallops, salmon, chicken and a spicy shrimp fettuccine which is my favorite. Afterwards we just headed back to the house and watched the last of the BUCS vs 49 Niner game and once again we won 21-0. We are now 7-3 and the youngest team in the NFL.

Well not much else is going on except tomorrow we will take new pics of the grand babies especially little Gabey as he has gained over 5 pounds since birth and he is just a little over 2 months old. We are elated to hear a dear friend who just gave birth a couple weeks ago and whose baby boy had to undergo surgery to repair a diaphragm is on the mend, soon Susan will be able to hold and love up on her baby Harrison and take him home. LATER

Saturday

Wow what another gorgeous day with warm sunshine, low humidity and bright blue skies. We tried or I tried to sleep in this morning but Nancy was once again serenading with her saxophone snore, but at least when my head hit the pillow last night I was out til 5 this morning. After our quiet moments and a hearty breakfast of leftover fried spuds, fried eggs and a couple pieces of ham I ventured out to work in the garden and yard. I never once got hungry after that breakfast and its nearly 5 o'clock.

We finally finished plugging the front yard and then I dug around the the back of the house next to the oak tree there to make sure no roots were heading or growing under the foundation. There were lots of small roots but I quickly cut through them. Its been a work filled day and I love these days where you can feel like you've accomplished something. Now we hope the grass will take in the front yard and once again turn the dirt pile into a lawn. I dug and cut tons of roots from the front yard then added some fertilizer to the little bit of green grass that had survived then we set the sprinkler for hours.

I finished the book titled HALF BROKE HORSES by Jeannette Walls and was surprised at the ending. You will have to read it as its fun and very fast to read. She is a super author. I was saddened to see it end.

I sat out in the back yard to finish the read after all the back breaking digging today but what a nice day. After the read it was shower time and a glass of vino while Nancy put together a turnip casserole for supper to go along with some steamed broccoli and fried deer steaks that have been tenderized. Looking forward to this supper. Well will close for now as I'm relaxed and looking forward to worship tomorrow with son Bobby at Element and a little grand baby time with Annsley and Gabriel. LATER

Friday

I was up at 5:30 and headed out to pick up the Ross Family and head to the airport for their flight to Kansas. Ava and Samuel were wide eyed and ready to go and visit with their other grandparents for about 12 days. We will see them again on the first of December. I got back from the airport in time to have my usual bowl of oatmeal before heading out to the rec for some pickle ball. We were a couple players short from our usual group but the play we had was fast and furious for 2 plus hours. It was a little chilly this morning as I rode out on my bike. Nancy headed off to her weekly Bible study class at SFBC around 10.

After pickle ball I rode home to water the gardens and the newly plugged front lawn. We hope to finish in tomorrow as we still have about 80 plugs to plants. I worked over the little bit of Bahia grass still showing some color by cutting the roots with a hand and foot tool and loosening up the compacted ground, then fertilizing and watering, whew will I ever be thrilled when this job is completed. After Nancy came home we had a sandwich before heading out to Lowes to pick up additional mulch, then off to the cultural center to purchase tickets for the Nutcracker Ballet next month for the girls; GG, Nancy, Amy, Jill, Ava and Annsley. The girls are so into ballerinas.

We made a stop at the veggie stand before heading back to the house. I transplanted 11 broccoli plants into the side garden then replanted a couple herbs. We got ready about 4 o'clock and headed to GG's for supper. She had a lasagna and a fresh salad for supper. After the clean up we played 24 hands of Oh Well before heading out for home. Its starting to cool down nicely after a hot day but with no humidity. LATER

Thursday

Well it was a bit cool this AM as I rode out to the rec on my bike after my quiet times and a lite breakfast. We had about a dozen players with some really good play for 2 plus hours. Wow am I glad tomorrow is Friday and I get to rest a little over the week end except for plugging the yard on Saturday. I did a little yard work with the extra slabs of grass sod but decided to wait until the early morning hours to finish with the plugging as its just gets too hot in the afternoon.

I pedalled over to Amy's to pick up a few lettuce seedlings Tyler had left over after thinning out his Romaine lettuce. I then added more stringing along the back bean plant poles and around the tomato plants as well. After repotting the seedlings, I hand watered the gardens as well as the front yard. The kids came for lunch so we played with them as we will miss them the next 10 days as they leave for Kansas tomorrow morning from Tampa, I have to have them at the airport by 6:30 AM.

We had pork chops, collards, oven taters and green beans for supper along with having Amy, Tyler and the kids to eat as well. Sam is really growing and Amy gave him a taste of pork chop after chewing it up for him and he loved it. He really doesn't care for baby food and won't eat it at all, anyhow he is such a cutie as well as is Ava. They are spending Thanksgiving with all of his family in the western part of Kansas. I think I heard Amy say it was in the 30's there with snow flurries. Today here in Florida it was in the low 70's and Amy complained she was cold, what an awakening for her the next 10 days.

Well not much else is going on except I started a new book titled HALF BROKE HORSES by Jeanette Walls, she is great writer. LATER

Wednesday

Well the temps are holding steady but the humidity has gone up but not enough to turn the a/c on again as of yet. The morning started out the usual around 6:30 with a wake up call then a few quiet moments to reflect and give thanks then a boring bowl of oatmeal with a banana. I then headed out on the bike for the rec center for some pickle ball. My how much we miss our leader, Jersey Jim as he was unable to be there today as he always has the gym set up with 2 nets to the right height. Ric and I tried to set the net up but made several adjustments before we finally got it close. We had about 11 players total for the day and by 10 AM I was ready for a break. I'm slowly but surely getting back into shape; I love this physical cardio workout.

After leaving Nancy in the weight room on the treadmill I biked over to the library to pick up SEABISCUIT before heading home. We had a nice late evening rain so I didn't have to water until later this afternoon. We decided to let the yard work take a day off as we had errands to run and besides we are having house church this evening so we didn't want to get dirty. After a quick lunch of PBJ's; actually we debated whether to go to Mc Donalds as there were tons of buy one get one free coupons in the paper but we were thinking about the calories in the PBJ's and we knew the other had at least twice as much, so we were strong. We had to return some baby clothing we bought in Galax, Va at Wal-Mart that Amy wasn't happy with so we headed to the super store in Pinellas Park then finished up at Sam's Club for deli meats and bread for subs tonight at house church.

The garden is doing marvelous with radishes up, new growth on the beets I brought back from the cabin, 'maters golf ball size, blooms on the beans and collards ready to eat any day. Its gonna be a great garden the winter in sunny warm Florida. Yikes, I do love it here during the winter months. The windows are open and I'm wearing shorts working on that Florida tan.

Well not much else is happening here today; however we did miss seeing Ava and Sam for lunch today as they go to Tampa on Wednesday to have lunch with Tyler. We will see them tonight at house church, LATER.

Tuesday

Well it was another beautiful warm with a little more humidity day in sunny Florida. The day started out the usual with our quiet times and a bowl of oatmeal with some mountain grown blueberries and a banana. Afterwards I headed out to the rec on the 10 speed for some pickle ball. We had a good crowd with about a dozen or so players and by 10 AM I was ready for a break. After leaving the rec I did some hand watering and Ava had joined me as her mom, Amy and Nancy headed out with Samuel to do some shopping. The Ross Family is leaving Friday for Kansas to spend Thanksgiving with Tyler's family so some cool weather clothing is at the top of their shopping list.

Ava and I did some watching of Toy Story 3 and what a tear jerker, its a must see and after the girls got home from the mall we had a bite of lunch. I finished up the last of the venison salami on bread with mayo, mustard and onion, yeow is that ever good eatin'; the girls ate their deli ham. Thanks to Andy Dalton for fixin' me up with such good eatin' vittles. After lunch I headed out to work in the front yard, boy am I ever glad this lot is 60'X 100' ft. I spent a couple hours just preparing the dirt to accept our grass plugs. The water company came by to re-sod the area where they removed our old meter which by the way had been in the front yard for over 31 years, anyhow they left me a few extra pieces of sod for my poor pitiful yard. Nancy and I planted almost 80 grass plugs before calling it a day, she acts as if it's the toughest thing she has done in awhile and is vegetating on the couch after her shower.

We had a great chicken on the grille along with some parsley spuds and cooked broccoli and carrots for supper, yumm!! I did the clean up and then got ready for some FOX News. Both of us are a little tired of course I did 2 plus hours on the pickle ball court and she did her 30 minutes on the treadmill after walking to and fro from the rec. Ava and Samuel were so cute today with her make beliefs and his now getting up on his toes while attempting to crawl.

Well tomorrow is hump day with a trip to Wal-mart to return some kids clothes we purchased in Galax and then to Sams Club for some fixin's for tomorrows house church dinner. Please keep Nancy's aunt(her mothers sister) in your thoughts and prayers as Aunt Darrell isn't doing so well as she fights for her life in Pa. LATER

Monday

Well it was another gorgeous day with temps in the high 70's and low 60's this AM. After our quiet time and a lite breakfast of oatmeal with a banana I jumped on the bike for my ride out to the rec for some pickle ball. We had at one time 18 players and the play was fast, furious and continuous for 2 plus hours. Wow was there ever a ton of wet shirts. Afterwards I headed home to hand water my garden. I now have lots of blooms on my beans and tomato's and have the radish seeds I planted 3 days ago up.

Amy and the kids came for lunch so we got in some good family time with them as we missed seeing them on Sunday. After a lunch of left over pizzas and a fresh salad I headed out to work on the front yard. I'm having to dig up the yard as the oak tree roots have taken over and I can't get any grass to grow. I'm planting grass plugs where I have removed the roots and what a job that is as I don't have a roto-tiller and I'm doing all this by hand. I finished up 5 trays of plugs which has 18 plugs per tray and after the kids left we headed back to Home Depot to purchase 8 more trays plus a couple bags of red cypress mulch for the inpatients we planted on Friday. I also found some sweet green onion seedlings and picked up a bundle of about 50. I was "plugged" out for the day so we mulched and then I set out the onion seedlings and then fertilized the rest of the garden as well.

I grilled a couple bone in pork chops and Nancy microwaved a couple sweet 'taters as well as some fresh store bought broccoli for supper. I have broccoli, kale and Swiss chard seedlings that need to be set out later this week as they are just a little to small right now. If these warm temps stay for awhile it won't be long until they will be ready to harvest as well.

Well other than Nancy's aunt Darrell receiving several severe injuries from a fall on Sunday at her residence in Pennsylvania everyone else seems fine. She is getting up there in years and it will take her a long time to recover so keep her in your thoughts and prayers. LATER

Sunday

Another awesome day of worship, family time and just gorgeous weather. After our quiet times and a lite breakfast of oatmeal, red raspberries and a banana we headed out to Tampa for worship with son Bobby at Element Church. I think there were close to 40 kids in their area and a good size crowd in the gathering. It was great to hug and be hugged and to be welcomed back from our loving church in Sparta. Bobby is doing a fantastic job in bringing GOD'S Word in a less than traditional setting and these younger families are responding.

After the service we took grand daughter Annsley with us to Publix and picked up some old fashioned fried chicken and few other goodies for a late lunch. We got to spend some quality time with both Annsley and Gabriel. Gabey is growing so fast and is such an eater and we each got to hold him throughout the afternoon. Nancy spent a good hour or more in the play room with Annsley and the laughter was contagious and loud. We had a fun afternoon and Bobby and I caught most of the BUCS game on the Internet as it was blacked out once again in the Tampa area. BUCS won over our mountains friends Panthers team. It was a good game and the Panthers played hard and are better than their 1-8 record.

After the game we got ready to head back to Pinellas County and got in just before dark and picked up a pizza on the way for a late supper. It was a great family day. We decided to call it a day around 10:30 as 6:30 would come early as I would be getting ready for another 2 plus hours of pickle ball on Monday morning. LATER

Saturday

Another beautiful day here in the usually hot Central Florida but the temps are nice in the daytime and crispy cool in the 60's at night, yikes is that ever invigorating. I see on Rays Weather.com the mountains will be experiencing some dramatic changes in this up coming week with the chance for some of the "white stuff " and some much lower temps. Its been a great Fall there and we really had a wonderful time on the mountain this past year. Well not to get too sentimental we started Saturday out with our usual quiet times, bowl of oatmeal and getting ready to head out to Twill Auto in the Bay Pines area for a free oil change for single moms. Our Element house church here in Pinellas County do this about every 3 months. Dan Botbyl lets us use his shop and its a real help for those families plus we feel like we are doing something that counts instead of just talking about it. We even provide a free gas card for them as well. We finished up around lunch and I think we did about a dozen or so cars.

Afterwards we headed out to the veggie stand for some fresh produce as mine is in the ground and somethings will be ready for harvesting in a few weeks. I have collards big enough to eat now, but that's about all except for a few herbs that survived the hot dry summer and what herbs I brought back from the mountains last week. They all seemed to made it especially the couple dozen small beet plants I dug up and replanted here. I never knew they would survive but they are sending out roots in the warm soil some should have beet greens for our salads in the next week or so. We stopped off at Amy and Tyler's and picked up some lettuce he was thinning out as well as a couple cuke plants, so I replanted them when we got home.

I did a little watering the new grass plugs and inpatients out front before we got ready to head over to Nancy's folks for a birthday dinner for her sister Betsy. GG made a 11 pound medium rare sirloin tip roast along with smashed spuds and gravy and Nancy made the spinach casserole with fresh mushrooms and cheese on top Wow is that not one of the best casseroles ever and Amy made a magnificent salad. GG made Betsy's choice of a coconut cake which I passed on, but the dinner was great. Nancy's dad, PapPap is doing much better and seemed to really enjoy his food once again. We sure missed Bob and his family being there but he was marrying a couple from Element Church.

Well we watched a little football and saw S.C. take the Gator's apart with Steve Spurrier at the helm. Not much else is happening except getting ready to head to Tampa for worship at Element then spend the afternoon visiting Annsley and Gabriel and watching the Bucs play the Panthers. Certainly hope we don't play as bad as the Gators. LATER

Friday

The weather here is just fantastic with no humidity and a warm 78 degrees with tons of sunshine and blue skies, not quite as blue as the Carolina skies but still blue. After our quiet times this AM and a bowl of oatmeal with banana and red raspberries I headed out to the rec on my bike for some pickle ball. We had a 4 some for the first 20 minutes or so and had some hard fought close games, wow was that ever a good workout and everyone had wet shirts. We ended with about a dozen players for the day and I was bushed by 10 AM and ready for a breather. I got my breather riding home on the bike and eventually to the barber shop to have my ears lowered.

I watered the garden while Nancy ran off to the grocery store and when she got back we had a bite of lunch before heading out to the front yard to plant some inpatients. Well as I began to dig the area where Nancy wanted to set out the 18 plants I was confronted with the big oak tree roots. Some were as big as my thigh and all I had to cut them with was an ax. Well I labored hard for about an hour before I finally cut the majority away and dug down deep enough for the plants to live. We then decided to plant the grass plugs in the front yard and once again we were confronted with the roots. I had to take a hoe and a ax to dig down deep enough so the plugs would take hold. The whole front yard is like that and no wonder we can't get grass to grow there from seed. We worked at that until nearly 4 o'clock before we headed in to get our showers before Ava and Samuel came for supper. Amy and Tyler were going out to dinner and a movie.

We warmed up the left overs from last nights supper and they were nearly as good as the night before. We gave Sam a bath in the kitchen sink and afterwards while Nancy was getting him ready for bed I walked into the room and sneezed and little Sam began to cry. It took him several minutes to get over that frightening experience with my sneeze. Well we are getting ready to head over to their house and give Ava a bath then put them both to bed. LATER

Thursday

Well what a day its been and to think that now I'm a celebrated Veteran of the Vietnam Era. I was just a 20 year old when I started my military service with the USAF in 1966. I had the fortune to be in a unit that carried personnel(soldiers, med-evac's, etc), material(bombs, weapons, airplane parts, etc) into the war zone in all areas of Vietnam on a C-141A jet aircraft. I also had the dubious job of taking care of the KIA's returning to the States. At that age one doesn't think about the finality that comes with war, but now as I look back on what I could have missed had I been a casualty I shudder to think I would not have had; Nancy, Bobby, Amy and my 4 beautiful grand babies. My thoughts and prayers go out to all who today put their lives in danger that I might continue to love and enjoy my family.

After my quiet time and a bowl of oatmeal with a banana and blueberries I headed out to work in the garden and back yard. I edged, mowed and clipped all before Ava came at 10 AM. I was watching her while Nancy and Amy went shopping. We rode the trike, did sidewalk chalk drawing and then she helped me wash off the N.C. mud and dirt from the truck. We had a busy morning until the girls got home around 12:30. I made us a lite lunch and then I played with Sam while the girls ate. He is trying to crawl but it looks like the Army crawl on his belly and not his knees. Ava wanted to watch TOY STORY 3 so I set that up for her.

After the kids left around 2 PM I caught up on a little reading for a couple hours sitting in the back yard under the shade tree, my it was nice out. I think it may have reached 80 today but with no humidity. We haven't had the A/C on since we've been home but Amy has had the heat on in the mornings at her house.

We had Nancy's folks and Amy and the kids for supper tonight with marinated chicken breasts for fajitas, yellow rice and black beans and a salad. Wow was that ever good almost as good as the deer steaks(ground) last night. That has become my favorite all time meat. YIKES is that ever good eatin' and good for you. I can barely keep my eyes open after my shower and I'm having a hard time finishing this piece and its only 8:30. LATER

Wednesday

Well after a good night's rest I was raring to go at 6:30 this morning. After my quiet time and a bowl of oatmeal I pedalled to the rec for some pickle ball at 7:30. There I met up with a couple other players and we had some great play the first 45 minutes so much so that by 9:30 I was exhausted. I'm sure by next week I will once again be back in shape for these 2 hours of continuous play. We had some great play today and when 10 AM arrived I was ready to head for the house on my bike. The rec is closed tomorrow for Veterans Day so I will do much more garden and yard work and very little running. Nancy says she wants to walk the hood tomorrow.

After the rec I did a little garden work while Nancy did her thing on the treadmill. The temps were in the high 60's and eventually reached the low 80's. Just a marvelous day weather wise. We had a couple left over burgers for lunch then headed out to Home Depot for some fertilizer, lime and grass plugs then headed on over to Sam's Club for some goodies for tomorrow nights dinner with Nancy's folks and Amy and the kids.

Let me comment on Bobby's dinner last night which was unbelievably tasty. He took a pork rib roast and broiled it with sage, garlic and yellow peaches then made a gravy from the drippings with white wine, mustard and Worcester sauce, YUMMM. He did a brown rice and Nancy did a fresh salad. Wow was that ever good eatin.

Well we are getting ready to head out to house church tonight where we will have a bonfire and to smores. I have a lot of small limbs and twigs from the big oak tree in the front yard so I will do the fire. Ava and Samuel are coming so we will get to visit with them as well. LATER

Pictures from a visit with the grand kids

Tuesday

Well this will be short and sweet as its been non-stop since arriving back in warm sunny Florida on Monday evening. Today, found me awake after being very restless at all hours of the night and unable to adjust to; the bed, the night noises(sirens, loud cars and motorcycles) and being by where the air and water seemed to all have been used at least once. I was up and getting ready to head out to the rec early for some pickle ball after my quiet time and a bowl of oatmeal with some mountain grown, hand picked blue berries. Yikes did that ever take me back a couple months ago when I picked those babies while looking out on Pilot Mountain and down off into the beautiful mountains and hills, oh well excuse me for digressing.

Pickle ball was great and it was so great to be welcomed back by so many and we had several new players and some really great play for the morning with about 15 players. I was whipped as that was the first real cardio-vascular exercise I had participated in since October. Chain sawing, splitting wood, digging dirt and hiking only taxes your muscles but running around chasing a little green ball causing you to sweat and get out of breath is another story, but I love it. Anyhow after the 2 hour workout I stopped by at the library and got a warm welcome back from the gals there and picked up 3 books at had ordered while still in N.C. last week. There the books were so they all knew I was heading back for the winter.

I pedalled home and worked in the garden until Amy and the kids came for lunch then worked some more after a sandwich before getting ready to head over to Bobby's in Riverview. (I will post pics later), the dinner was amazing as he is a superb chef as well. We had a great time loving up on Annsley and Gabey. I was dozing by 9 PM and decided we had better head for Seminole which was an hour away. Sleep was good last night and I was awake at 6:30 this morning and ready to head out for the rec. Will catch up on Bobby's dinner last night, later. LATER

Monday

Well we made it back safely and in good time after leaving at 4:45 AM we hit the outskirts of Tampa right around 3 PM. We made a 1/2 hour stop at Nancy's folks then headed on to the house to unpack. Everything looked great and many thanks to neighbor Jim for keeping the yard in good shape and to Tyler for watering my garden. I have green tomato's about the size of a golf ball. The temps here had cooled off the past couple of days and we heard where many have had their heat on already. Wow can't believe the heat has been on with these beautiful temps of in the 60's. This morning it was 27 at the foot of the mountain whereas it was 35 when we left the cabin. Of course the heat has been on for us for days with the temps in the 20's, yikes 60's feels like a heat wave.

After unpacking and watering the many seedlings and plants I brought down from the mountain we headed over for supper with Amy, Tyler, Ava and Sam. Amy had a fresh salad, corn muffins and chicken noodle soup, she's getting to be as good a cook as her mother. It was great eatin' and we played with the grand babies until about 7:30 when I needed a shower to wake up. Tomorrow we are heading over to Riverview(about 50 miles away) to visit with son Bobby, Jill, Annsley and baby Gabriel and have supper with them as well.

Well will close as I have tons of mail to open, bills to pay, etc. It sure was different to be back in a neighbor where your neighbor is just right next door on both sides and when you look out your kitchen window you see another fence in the back yard, but the temps are nice and tomorrow its supposed to hit the low 80's. I need to start working on a tan as I've been wearing long pants and sweat shirts the past couple weeks. I'm looking forward to getting back on the pickle ball courts at 8 AM tomorrow for a good 2 hour workout.

Once again I want to thank all who have made this summer a great one even though we were back in Florida 5 different times. We will really miss all who have become family there in the mountain community; the great meals, super games of sequence, spades, hearts and domino's and the working together for a common goal. We love you all and we hope you have a mild winter and are looking forward to next May when we can renew our friendships. LATER

Sunday

Wow this morning was the coldest yet with temps near 20 degrees, frost and ice everywhere. All of the plants and flowers are history for this year, yet by afternoon it had once again moderated to a nice 44 degrees with lots of sunshine and blue skies. We were having our 7 th annual homecoming luncheon after worship at Cornerstone so Nancy was busy putting together the Mexican rice casserole and cheese cake. We headed out around 9:30 as there was ice all over the roof and hood of the truck. BRRR!!!

We had a nice crowd and there was tons of food. There were lots of handshakes, hugs and a few tears as we bid farewell to this loving group of believers. We will certainly miss them and except for family in Florida we might think twice about leaving here; but be as we do this is one great group of folks and we are counting the days until we return. They certainly have made us feel welcomed and loved.

After the luncheon we stopped by our dear friends the Daltons and picked up the frozen deer meat Andy and Caleb processed for us last evening, Yikes are we gonna have some great eatin' this winter. They also loaded us up with some trout and a dozen of their home grown fresh eggs and a fresh home made Christmas wreath. Thanks again too the Dalton Family for your generosity and friendship.

After getting back to the cabin it had warmed up to the high 40's so we wanted to get once last walk in this year to the top and we started out. We saw no one else but Zeke the Brownings dog so he walked with and was having a grand time. He strode right on past our cutoff and headed back to his home as we came to the back trail that runs down to the cabin. Nancy decided she wanted one more golf cart ride so we headed over to our "mountain moms" cabin for a visit on the golf cart. It was a little chilly but a nice ride. We forgot to bring the leftover pumpkin pie with us so she came back to our place for a brief visit and to get the pie.

After Helen left, neighbor Gerald and his brother-in-law came by for a short visit as they are preparing for a big deer hunt the next couple days. Its great to know he will harvest a few of these "garden munchers" and keep an eye on our place as well. Daughter Amy called as well as sister Dee. I burned the last of the paper trash then loaded the truck except for the coolers and whats in the refrigerator. Its a 3:30 wake up and hopefully a 5 AM departure after draining the pipes and pouring anti-freeze in all the commodes, traps and bathtub.

Well we will be away from this keyboard for a day or so as we travel back to Florida. Here are a couple pics taken today. LATER

Pictures from Saturday's Blog

Well as you can see winter has arrived and with a bang. The temps have been down into the 20's with a wind in the teens, YIKES we are wimping out on all these mountain folks and heading for warmer climates. Notice the snow and ice, I almost forgot the word SNOW is a "dirty word" and not to be used around here. Check out whats left of the 8 point buck that will be heading(no pun intended) south with us of course frozen and in a cooler thanks to Andy.