Wednesday Morning

Tuesday was another nice day for working outside with cooler temps and overcast skies most of the day with occasional showers and periods of sunshine. We had a steady rain in the early afternoon that amounted to 1/2 inch and sent us both onto the porch to read for a couple hours. Nancy donned her sweat suit and finally headed inside to close the windows. It was down into the low 60's.

The morning started around 6:15 with such stillness as I couldn't go back to sleep. I wonder if my inner clock is so use to the roosters crowing around 5'ish and then trying to get in that extra hour that when I awake around 6'ish that's it for sleeping, oh well. After my usual cup of green tea with some cinnamon I did my post for this ramble and my quiet time, then made a smoothie of a fresh peach, banana, and blue berries, yikes was that ever good and healthy. I headed outside to check on the gardens. I caught another field mouse down below the deck and I'm wondering where "blackie" the snake is as he is usually the best mouser around. This year I've already caught 3 mice all of them outside or in my red out building.

The gardens look great and no further damage and lots of new growth; my sugar peas have broken ground, the tomatoes are ripening and the cukes are blooming as well. I had to resow some of the beet seeds as the heavy rains when we first got here washed most away but a few did survive and are up plus the beets I brought from my Florida garden are sending out new leaves. We love to add beet greens to our salads and they are so good for you.

I headed up to the Browning's to pick up some fertilizer Joe didn't like as it's made from dried chicken manure and it does have a smell. Well he had stored it in a trash can outside and some how it got wet and began to rot. Yeow was that ever a smell so I just spread it by hand onto the backwoods yard and it took me forever to wash the smell away. The nice afternoon rain also washed the smell away as well. We took off on our hike just before lunch and saw no one on top of the mountain. The fog had rolled in and cut off all of our distant views but the snowy white clouds and fog was absolutely beautiful. We had to cut the hike across the top short as it began to rain.

We came back and had our favorite lunch of canned sardines with fresh sweet onion on a cracker with mustard, yeow is that ever a tasty treat we just love. After lunch we took a golf cart ride out to the mailbox then settled in as the rain fell. We got in several hours of reading before starting some supper. I fired up the grille for some marinated chicken breasts which we turned into fajitas with the last of my red and green peppers from the Florida garden. We added the leftover garlic pasta and broccoli  from last nights supper. After the clean up I headed outside to weed eat the back woods area that is starting to grow up.

Nancy whistled and said we had company coming and it turned out to be Ray and Audean on a 4 wheeler. They stayed for an hour or so as he has been real sick with an inner ear infection. He looked rather unsteady on his feet and rather puffy around the face. He suffered from a cancer that got into his ear a few years ago and we certainly hope that hasn't started again. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers. Speaking of thoughts and prayers they worked as Amy and Tyler got home a little before 9 last evening after driving 1500 miles from Kansas. Ava had picked up an intestinal bug during their overnight stay in Tennessee so they were delayed due to all of the potty stops but they made it safely which was answer to prayer, LATER

 The ripe tomato pictures are from the seedlings I brought with me from Florida that had fruit already set. I have the first ripe tomato on the vine for the year amongst my gardening buddies here in the mountains.