Saturday

Well the morning started with a 5:15 wake up when Sam fell out of bed. He quickly went back to sleep after Amy consoled him. I never went back to sleep as we were planning on waking them at 6.  Tyler wanted to leave around 7 and get an early start and its a good thing they left when they did as Amy just called and they were just leaving Cracker Barrel in Ocala which is still an hour and half from Seminole; so it will be around 9 PM before they get home. We had such a grand time and Sam was just super. He is such a busy body and just loved being outside in the yard plus he spent lots of time on the porches with his cars and trucks. He is very inquisitive and wants to know how everything works. Ava and Sam both loved the golf cart and Sam loved the riding lawnmower(tractor he called it).

 Well after a melancholy start watching them roll down the drive we got busy and cleaned house and Nancy washed and hung 2 loads of towels and I rested with my leg elevated and iced. I put a strain on it this week as it wasn't completely healed so today I rested it a couple times as well as wrapped it in ice. It feels some what better already. It was a pleasant start of the morning with temps in the high 60's and it eventually reached the middle 80's by the afternoon but has now cooled off to the high 70's. We are supposed to get some late evening showers but it doesn't as if it that will happen as of right now.

We had leftovers for lunch and then Nancy made a nice fresh salad for supper which was cool as we didn't have to warm up the cabin anymore than necessary. I spoke with Paw Paw last night and he said it was 100 degrees in Winchester on Friday which is very unusual and supposed to be even hotter today. We sure hope it cools off for next Saturdays outside wedding with niece Kelly Dillon which we will be attending in the Winchester area. We will get another grand baby fix as Annsley and Gabriel will come back with their parents son Bobby and Jill after the wedding on Sunday for a 4 or 5 days here at the cabin.

Well that's about it for today as I checked the lower garden which is about half weeds but the cucumber and squash plants look to be blooming and a few of the green bean plants(which are about a 1/2 dozen all total) are actually sending out runners. The cherry tomato plants have actually set some fruit so there is some promise there for some home grown 'maters. The corn is growing as well so I'm still dreaming of some buttery ears of corn in a month or so. LATER

Friday

Well it was another morning in the low 60's and even though it got close to 80 it was a beautiful day with a slight breeze and some cloudiness that kept it quite nice all day long. The kids woke up around 6:30 with Sam coughing and after a juice he seemed to calm down and the coughing eased most of the day. I fried up some sausage patties outside on the grille along with some cackle berries and Nancy cooked up some grits that Tyler bought at Mabry Mills, yikes was that ever some good eatin'.

I took the kids to the top of the mountain on the golf cart and we visited with Zeke and Jetta. The kiddos just love Zeke and most all the dogs and cats they were around the past week and looked forward to seeing him each day was we visited on top. After our ride I did a little garden work; pulling a few weeds, hoeing the plants in my upper garden and fertilizing. The leg or knee seems to be getting a little stronger each day and I'm able to do some garden work. I can still feel the area where the injury occurred but with a little rest and elevating the leg a couple times a day I think eventually I will be able to run and play again, hopefully.

We ate some left overs for lunch then the gang all took a long hike to the top so I did one of my rest numbers on the leg and read for a couple hours. I looked as if it was going to storm a couple times but eventually passed us by. We had about a 1/2 inch of rain yesterday so the ground had plenty of moisture. We took the kiddos on a couple more golf cart rides throughout the afternoon and finally settled on the back porch in the shade until it was time to start supper.

Nancy made chicken fried deer steak and it was excellent, she even made a milk gravy from the crunchies in the pan and we put that over Jasmine rice and with a fresh salad and some cooked cauliflower and broccoli we had a feast, wow many thanks to the Dalton Gang for this dewisheous venison. After supper and the clean up I made a fire in the fire pit and we made smores for the kiddos, both of them were little chocolate mud puppies with their faces covered in the fixen's. I then burned several bags of trash  as the kiddos helped me pick up sticks in the back woods yard for the fire. Sam wanted to ride on the lawn mower again so we rode around the yard while Tyler kept the trash heap burning and Nancy took Ava and Amy on a golf cart ride.

Well the kids have got their baths and are into the Chipmunk's movie so Amy and Tyler are doing some packing and getting their showers so they can leave around 7 in the morning. This week just flew by and it will be definitely quiet around for the next week. We've had such a great time and just ate way too much. Later..Here are few pics from this past couple days.  

Thursday

Well it was a busy day after a 7 AM wake up. The temps were in the 70's with a few high clouds. After our quiet times and a lite breakfast of cereal and oatmeal we got ready to head out on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We headed up to Mabry Mills around 9:30 which is about 50 miles north of the cabin. We saw evidence of the strong storm that struck our area on Monday night around 1 AM as the Parkway was littered with large trees that had been split, twisted and blown down along side the road, Yikes some of these trees were humongous.

Mabry Mills is a late 1800's homestead that showed some of the best engineering skills when it came to harnessing water power to grind grains, saw timber and do other wood working jobs. We walked through out the rustic house and out buildings which really confirmed to us how great the gals have it today. We headed back toward Galax a little before noon and took a different route which allowed us to travel much faster. We could see where  rain had fallen all the way into Galax. We headed over to main street to have a lite lunch at MacAdoo's. This is a neat yuppie type restaurant which employs young college students as waiters and specializes in sandwiches, nachos and quesadillas. After a yummy lunch we walked through the old down town and visited several shops and eventually ended up at an ice cream shoppe. The kiddos loved this. We headed back to Wal-Mart to pick up a few items and visited with Kimberly who works in the garden department before heading back to the cabin.

Nancy made a superb spaghetti sauce using lots of fresh herbs from the garden and Amy put a salad together and along with crusty garlic bread we had a sumptuous meal. After supper and the clean up the kids were put in the bath tub and got ready for bed. Nancy read several books as the temps dropped and night fall came on. Finally we have some cool weather as the breeze really chilled things down. Well I just had Sam climb up on my lap as I finish this post. These little ones will surely me missed when they leave on Saturday, LATER

Wednesday

Well it was a nice morning with temps in the 60's and a nice breeze which made for a pleasant way to start the day. The kiddos were awake around 7, so after our quiet time we made a breakfast of sausage patties, eggs and biscuits. After the clean up we got ready to head out to our friends Eddie and Kimberly's farm. Eddie is still recuperating from his ankle replacement surgery so I sat with him while Kimberly took Ava and Sam out to the stables and saddled up one of their 12 horses for them to ride on. They had a wonderful time riding as well as playing with their 4 dogs and as many cats. It was nearly noon by the time we left and headed back to the cabin.

After a lite lunch of left overs I took the kids off on a golf cart ride to the top while Amy and Nancy tidied up the cabin and got ready for our guests for supper. We were having neighbors Gerald, Jodie and Gabriel as well as the Dalton Gang, Andy, Mechelle, Kathryn(Kallie) and Caleb as well as Mechelle's folks Gerald and Kay Luffman. Well once again we had another scrumptious meal of jalapeno poppers, burgers, dogs, baked beans, macaroni salad, homemade banana pudding and homemade strawberry ice cream. Yikes was that ever a feed and thanks to all who contributed. After the clean up we played 4 games of Sequence and the guys put it on the gals 3-1, oh my what a defeat for the gals as it was 3-0 at one time and one game they had no whites at all. Oh well!!!

After the Dalton's and Luffmans headed out we played a round of 5 Crowns and Tyler put it on the rest of us big time. It was bath time for the kiddos and we got them in to bed around 9 PM. We had a fun time as we celebrated the 4th with family, neighbors and good friends and we even had a lite shower of rain which kept it cooled down despite the 80 degree temperature. We are watching the celebration on the mall in D.C. which is very entertaining with lots of old favorite songs and great instrumentals.

Here are a few pics from todays activities on this 4th of July celebrated with daughter Amy and her husband Tyler, grand babies Ava and Sam, neighbors and close friends, LATER

Tuesday

Well thankfully the heat has abated to some extent and today was really a nice day with lots of cloudy skies and even a light rain shower after lunch which kept the temps in the normal range. The morning started out with Sam and Ava waking around at 7 AM and then we all were up shortly thereafter. After our quiet times we had left over buckwheat cakes, scrambled eggs and Cheerios for the kiddos. I took the kiddos on an early morning golf cart ride to the top of the mountain where we visited with Joe, Jetta and Zeke their friendly dog. The kids played with Zeke throwing the frisbee and really enjoyed seeing and petting him. Their garden is doing awesome and with a little luck the patch of ground Joe and I worked up and planted should produce some ears of sweet corn by the end of July or first of August.

We headed back to the cabin and the girls were getting ready to head to town for some shopping as we are having a large gang here for the 4th celebration with food and games. They headed to our favorite diner for lunch, the Mustard Seed and then went by a shop to exchange a necklace she bought a couple days ago that broke on only her second time of wearing it. The sales lady was very nice and left a message she found another just like it in the supply room after girls left her shop. I'm sure we will be back in town towards the end of the week for supplies. While the girls were gone we had a lite lunch then headed down to the creek on the golf cart. We weren't there long when it began to thunder and gray clouds moved in indicating the threat of a storm. It did rain for about 15 minutes which really cooled things off.

I put on a pot of raw peanuts to boil and yikes where they ever great, Yumm! We all love them and ate the whole pot after a couple hours of boiling in salt water. We decided to grill some barbecue ribs, fry some yellow squash and have a fresh salad for supper, dewisheous. After supper we did smores for all except for Tyler and myself. We started watching the Rays and the Yankees game and the Rays won again for the second straight night. Sam fell asleep after his bath around 8 PM so we put him to bed and a movie on for Ava. We played 5 Crowns and Amy really put a whupping on the rest of us.

Well it was a fun filled busy day as Sam and Ava ran around playing on the porches, decks and running around in the yards playing with buggies and flowers. They both love the golf cart rides as Tyler took them a couple while I elevated my knee and read. Today I walked down the hill in the back yard without any noticeable pain while not using crutches. I feel like I'm on the road for a complete recovery, thankfully. LATER  

Monday

Well it was another busy day and the extreme heat stayed away so we had a fun filled day outside most of the time. The night before was an interesting one with a severe storm coming into the mountains around midnight or after. The ominous storm clouds and lightning had Nancy and I on edge until around 1 AM then Amy's cell phone made an unusual noise and kept us awake as its battery was dying and we couldn't locate the source or the nature of the noise, oh well finally around 6 AM after removing the battery from the smoke detector I located and moved the cell phone into a cabinet and shut the door which helped a little. Needless to say it was a rather sleepless night at the cabin.

Nancy made a mountain breakfast of buckwheat cakes, eggs and bacon and the day began after our quiet moments. I took the kiddos on a long golf cart ride to the top of the mountain and we visited briefly with the neighbors on top. Helen our mountain mom came over and spent some time with the kiddos before everyone but me decided to take a hike. I was surprised that Ava and Sam did the whole hike on their own and never complained; I stayed back and rested my knee which seems to be getting a little stronger each day except for some swelling in the ankle area which goes away over night. I'm still using the crutches whenever I have to navigate the ups and downs of the tilted land.

We ate leftovers for lunch which were excellent and we still have a fridge full to eat tomorrow as well. The potato salad and brats where dewisheous leftover as well as was the smoked chicken on a bed of salad along with mac and cheese and broccoli casserole for supper. There was hot fudge brownie cakes with vanilla ice cream for dessert which I had to pass on as the spare tire is becoming evident again since this knee injury.

We took a ride over to Helen's place around 2 to visit with her and to see her beautiful real log cabin with excellent views. She had candy bags for each of the kiddos and afterwards we headed to a local creek to play in the cold water. The kiddos looked for salamanders and crayfish and we found and captured a rather large one for such a small stream of water. The water really chilled everyone off as its crystal clear and very cold. We headed back to the cabin and Tyler and I racked my Pinot Noir.

We decided to eat then I took off with Nancy and the kiddos for the top of the mountain on the golf cart as Amy and Tyler cleaned up. Sam fell asleep as we traveled so we came back and got them ready for their baths and then put on a movie for them. We had the neighbors Jodi, Gerald and Gabe up for domino's and that lasted until nearly 11PM. Jodi came from behind on the last round to edge out Nancy who led the whole game. The kiddos fell asleep on the couch after watching the Chipmunk movie and then it was shower time for all and finally some horizontal lab, LATER

Sunday

Well the morning started out with warm temp's into the middle 70's which was actually higher than our Seminole, Fl. We had a restful night despite the high 80's when we decided to call it a night. The attic fan was a real blessing as it sucked out the hot air from the 94 temps and brought in the 80's and for awhile we opened the basement door and brought that cool 60's temps up and into the cabin, ahhh! The kiddos woke up as soon as we shut the attic fan off which was around 7 AM.

After getting them some Cheerios and milk we turn the T.V. to Nick Jr. to entertain them until we finished our quiet times before Amy and Tyler came down stairs. We had oatmeal with fresh peaches, bananas and blueberries for breakfast then got ready to head to Cornerstone for worship. Pastor B had an awesome message on what constitutes a legacy. Ava and Sam did great with the childrens church. We headed out after the service for home and it seems there must have been a storm pass through the area as the temps dropped down into the 60's and we actually had a few rain drops on the way home. It was so cool that Amy wore a sweater for awhile as the skies were cloudy but eventually it warmed back up to the high 80's; but not nearly as hot as yesterday.

After a lite lunch of hot soup(it was that cool) and a ham and cheese sandwich I took the kiddos on a golf cart ride to the top and we met Roddy our neighbor on top who comes up from the Charlotte area along with his friend Donnie who bought the Ray Todd place as well as their kids and grand kids. Sam and Ava played with them for awhile then we decided to head out and saw where our friends Shirley and John were at their place along with his son Bryan and his family and he has a little girl Jacqueline who is 6 years of age, well Ava and she immediately became playmates for about 1/2 an hour. We decided it was time to head out as we were expecting our dear friends the Carlson Family from Clemmons who use to live in our city and he was Amy and Bobby's youth pastor ay S.F.B.C. Their 3 girls have grown up so much and are just beautiful girls both inside and out. They started coming to the cabin when they were very little and we always referred to them as the 3 curley haired little ones.

We had a great visit with them until after 7 PM. We sat on the porch which was very pleasant as a breeze kept it nice. I grilled brats and dogs, Nancy had made potato salad ahead as well as brocolli casserole and Jenny made awesome salsa's as well as a chocolate eclair for dessert, yikes everything was dewisheous(Annsley). After eating we decided to play a game of Sequence of course we were a couple guys short so Emily(middle daughter) played with the guys and she made the right decision as we(guys) won the best 2 out of 3. I know its bragging rights until we play again next year, gals!!! Oh well!! It was a fun time and we reminised about old times in Seminole, looked at photos and just had an excellent time. We have several pictures to share of this beautiful family and good friends, LATER The picture with the finger 1 is of the winning Sequence team.