Thursday

Well I wore a long sleeve flannel shirt all day but with shorts as the morning temps started out just above the high 50's. It was damp with overcast skies but the sun did show its face for about 2 minutes just before lunch. We were rain free except for late this evening when we got some light rain. After our 6:45 wake up by son Bobby who had driven all night from Florida;  he called to let us know that he had arrived safely in Shallotte, N.C. at our cousin Tammy's house. We are thankful for his safe trip of 10 plus hours with his family.

After our quiet times and a cup of hot tea and coffee to start the cool damp morning we had cereal and fruit for breakfast. I ventured out in the wet grass and decided to use the weed whacker for the first time in over 3 weeks since the knee injury. I was able to walk up and down the property without any real pain while using the trimmer and eventually Nancy took it down the driveway to trim along the entrance to our road. While she was doing this I fired up the riding mower and did all the yards but the back woods yard which grows much slower due to all the shade trees. She headed back up the driveway as I finished mowing the last yard and her arms were give out. It took her a couple hours for her arms to readjust after using the trimmer.

It was going on 2 PM and we both could feel the need for something to eat. I finished up a left over Italian sausage and she made a cheese wrap with pickles. After lunch we chilled trying to recoup for an hour or so then I decided to burn the trash and she made some phones calls to the family in Florida. I gathered up lots of sticks that had littered the back woods yard and used them for kindling for the trash fire. I then loaded up all the cans and bottles we would drop off at the dumpster on our way to Galax tomorrow when we head out for our trip north to Winchester.

Nancy did some packing and we started getting ready for our trip. We decided since we had such a late lunch we would go meatless and roast a couple small spuds in the oven along with some fresh cauliflower and a can of green peas for supper. I doctored my spuds up with some home grown jalapeno peppers as well as some sour cream and were they ever dewisheous. After the clean up I rested my leg watching Fox News. We are getting excited about traveling north tomorrow and staying off of the interstate. The towns along I-81 on Route 11 are just full of Civil War history and many of the homes and buildings are from the 18th century, plus the scenery is just awesome as well in these small quaint towns.

Tomorrow we will head to the church where I attended as a youngster for the rehearsal of our niece's wedding that will take place on Saturday. There we will meet up with son Bobby who will officiate the wedding as well as be able to love up on granddaughter Annsley, grandson Gabriel and their mother Jill. They will accompany us back to the cabin for a few days next week after the wedding.The weather looks as if it will be pleasant compared to the triple digit temps from last week-ends heat wave that struck the Shenandoah Valley. It will be good to see all my family who I haven't seen in over a year and will also attend the festivites; they come from Pennsylvania, West Virginia and the local area. This will be the first wedding in ages on my side of the family.

Well Nancy once again has the camera out as she just loves to see the place mowed and trimmed. The pictures don't capture the smell of the newly mowed grass, the quietness and the beauty of the flowers and trees plus the business of the bees, butterflies, birds and the majesty of Old Glory as she hangs from our cabin, LATER The last picture is of a hummingbird moth which is seldom seen as this is the first one this year we have seen.