Tuesday

Well today was a chilly one to start with temp's in the high 40's and stayed cool most all day not getting out of the low 70's. A breeze helped to keep it pleasant during the hot part of the afternoon. After our quiet times Nancy made a mountain breakfast of buckwheat pancakes with huckle berries in the batter, I fried bacon outside on the grill and we topped it off with a couple home grown, free range cackle berries(eggs). My knee felt so good and strong that I decided to walk down to the lower garden but realized what a mistake that was about half way down when the pain returned behind the knee. So I had to be very gentle with it the rest of the day and made myself use the crutches whenever. I even took a couple rest periods of icing the knee and elevating once again.

After my debacle with the knee I took the golf cart for a ride to the top of the mountain to intercept Nancy who was taking her daily hike. We stopped and visited with Joe and Jetta and our conversations seem to end with our recipes and talk of food, yikes we headed home and had a sandwich despite having a huge breakfast as it was nearly 1:30. We had a hunk of smoked ham in the freezer and decieded since it was such a cool day we would have bean soup for supper so Nancy put on a pot of pintos and red beans mixed and had the ham boiling in a separate pot. Well the soup turned out to just fit the bill for supper and with a few raw Vidalias on top with some chipolte pepper it was very good.

After lunch I layed down and rested the knee and read on the book JOHN ADAMS by McCullough who by the way won the Pulitzer Prize. This is an awesome read and if you were ever confused about our forefathers and the start of this nation and the breakaway from England this is a must read as he writes about not only the personal life of this great American but Adams really was the glue that held the beginnings of our countrys foundation together. After a good rest for the knee, Nancy and I decieded to due a chore we have been putting off and that was putting the safety fence up along the porch and deck railing. The pickets are about 8 inches apart and we are always afraid the grand kids or any kid will accidently fall through to the yard which is about 10-12 feet below. So we tie this fence up each year with wire ties that wear your fingertips raw for a day or so. Nancy did all the bending and tying this year. I rested the knee again while she got supper ready and then again after supper.

We got a call from Amy that the power was restored to their neighborhood so they were back home after spending a night at our place. They picked up down limbs and branches that had fallen on our roof and yard from storm Debby which dumped massive amounts of rainwater which naturally caused flooding. Thankfully we are in the highest part of the county at 44 feet above sea level so we were spared any flooding damage. There were several tornado's that caused damage through the Bay Area and to think this was not a hurricane, yikes make one think what could have happened, oh well!!!

We are saddened to learn one of our young neighbors and friends with 3 youngsters was diagnosised with his melanoma cancer evident in his brain today. He has had several radical operations thinking it was contained and gone but it has now showed up there. Keep Justin Newton and his family in your thoughts and prayers. I use to coach him along with son Bobby during youth baseball.

Well its supposed to be the hottest temps of the year this coming weekend just in time to greet Amy and family from Florida. They were hoping to get some respite from the heat and humidity while in the mountains for a week; maybe the forecast is wrong and these past couple of days will show back for them as its really been cool and pleasant here. Here are couple pics of the mountain breakfast and our "fencing job" on the porch and deck, LATER