Well it sure was a warm day with high humidity a typical Florida day. Looks like the a/c will stay on for quite awhile, oh well!!! After Chester woke us up at 5'ish in the morning I laid in until the alarm went off at 6 then got ready to start the day with my cup of green tea, my quiet time and finally a bowl of oatmeal before riding out to the rec on my bike for some 2 plus hours of pickle ball. The play was great and we had a good crowd of very good players. Seems we are gearing up for the Good Life Games being held at our gym the end of March where players from throughout the area and state will participate.
After the workout I stopped off at the library for a couple reads before heading home to hand water the garden. My bush bean plants are loaded with blooms and little baby beans, yikes there must be 50+ per plant. The cherry tomato plants are setting fruit as well and the new lettuces are really taking off so we will soon quit buying that. There is nothing like growing your own organic veggies plus its fun. It really doesn't take a lot of room as you can grow beans, cukes, peas and tomatoes on a trellis, fence or stakes; anyhow it really got warm today up into the middle 80's so this will require watering at least twice a day and maybe more.
Amy and the kiddos came for lunch and we had a nice salad then Sam wanted me to read to him. He will soon be 2 and is such a sweet boy and he and Ava are really best buds. They are so cute together and really play well together. Nancy had to take her mom(GG) to a doctors appointment so everyone left early which allowed me to nap and read the afternoon away. I'm getting to use to these afternoon naps which never occur in the mountains but then again I'm not running around in a gym for 2 hours either; just walking up and down hills.
We spoke will "mountain mom" Helen today and she had been out on her tractor(at 84) mowing and pushing Spring fever. It was in the high 60's there today with bright sunshine. I also called my friend Walt and he was doing well also. Everyone says what a mild winter they had with ground only being frozen for a short time which may lead to lots of garden pests this summer. All were anxiously waiting our return and we made promises to do a little more getting together socially this year. We usually do at least a couple suppers together but I don't think we did any last year because we were back and forth to Virginia and Florida.
Well we fried up some fish and along with black beans and Jasmine rice we had a dewisheous supper. This fish comes from Thailand and is called Swaii, its the best tasting fried white fish I've ever eaten except for catfish; I like it better than fried grouper. That's about the only thing except for venison we actually fry in a skillet. Well after supper I set the sprinkler on the front yard and let it run a couple hours. We started watching the Idol but I was less than enthusiastic about the male singers than were the judges. I didn't hear but a couple songs or voices I really thought were decent so I headed in to read and watch the Lightning hockey team win against the Canadians in a close match 3-2. So much for the Idol for me.
Just a reminder about our Nutrilite Products special which ends on the 29th at midnight. These vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients are pharmaceutical grade and this special is when you buy one, you get another one Free. My son-in-law starting taking them and he hasn't had a cold or any chest congestion this year which usually sends him to the doctor a couple times during the season. He really believes they are the difference. These products are made in the USA and set the standard for health supplements, especially the Double X dietary supplement. They are loaded with 12 vitamins, 10 minerals and 20 plant phytonutrients, guaranteed to not pass through the body and wind up in the bottom of the toilet in a whole pill form. That's a plus right there as many of these off brands clog the waste plants with whole undigested pills. Anyhow if your interested I will make you a special pricing customer which means once I set you up as a customer you can order and receive the wholesale price I get, plus I will tell you monthly what the specials are via e-mail. These specials are from our TEAM LEADERS ONLY and not from Amway; that's why you need to let me make you a customer(there is no charge or obligation) but you will receive these awesome offers as they given to me. By the way I make no money on these special customers offers I just want you to receive the best products available. Also to be a special customer all I need is name, address, phone number and e-mail address.LATER
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Monday
Well summer is back in full force with temp's in the 80's and high humidity and its still in the month of February, yikes. The morning started with big mouth next door at 5:07 crowing but I managed to tune him out until the alarm sounded at 6 so the new day began. After my quiet time and a bowl of oatmeal I pedalled out to the rec for 2 plus hours of pickle ball. There was a large crowd once again and the play was continuous and fast with some long rallies and lots of wet shirts. Afterwards I stopped by the library for a couple reads before heading home.
Amy brought Sam by while she ran some errands so he and I stayed out in the back yard where he played with Chester and looked for buggies. He is such a cute boy and just loves to play in the dirt. We stayed outside until it got really humid and hot even in the shade of the big oak. I then read to him until it was lunch time when Amy and Ava showed up. Sam loves his big sister and she plays with him as well. They are best buds at times and so cute together until he tells her she is in "time out", then she shows her feelings. He is a stinker at times!
After lunch Nancy drew a dinosaur on paper and hopes to be able to transfer it to the top of a cake she baking for his birthday. Sam wants a dinosaur cake for his birthday which is Saturday. He will be 2 and its Nancy's birthday as well; she will be 55, yikes where did the time go? All of a sudden the kids are fascinated by dino's, seems the little boy across the street is into them and has tons of the stuffed toys and now our kids are into them as well; fads at the this age! Oh well it should be interesting to see how this cake turns out; pictures to follow.
After they left I read and napped until it was time to vacuum the house and get ready for supper. Nancy went to pick up GG and I cut Swiss chard to sauteed. The nematodes have moved in on the chard and this maybe the last big mess as I pulled up 3 plants to see why they were dying and found the roots looks like knots. The microscopic worms suck the life out of the plants and cause the leaves and stems to shrivel up and eventually die. The only natural preventive is marigolds and I have them around my tomato plants but you have to treat the soil with a liquid killer that is no longer on the market to really kill them. Anyhow we had a nice long stretch of good eatin from the row of chard and I'm going to replace it with kale as its going wild this year. The best kale I've ever grown and its so succulent and green, eventually the heat will get everything especially if it stays this hot as it is now. Nancy also made a nice turnip casserole with bread crumbs on top; much like scalloped potato's, very tasty to go along with meatloaf and chard. I had picked some fresh broccoli which are very small heads that sprout up on the stalks where the main head has been harvested to add to the supper.
Betsy came by and polished off the turnip casserole as well as had a plate of the meatloaf and then gave GG a ride home. We just chilled watching FOX News until it was race time then I headed into the bedroom to read and watch the Daytona 500 Race. I must have dozed off and on but did awaken to where a race car struck the back of a truck carrying jet fuel which caught on fire, wow what a unique occurrence never before seen at a major sporting event. I shut the lights out after 10 PM and will read about it this morning in the paper(on the Internet). LATER
Amy brought Sam by while she ran some errands so he and I stayed out in the back yard where he played with Chester and looked for buggies. He is such a cute boy and just loves to play in the dirt. We stayed outside until it got really humid and hot even in the shade of the big oak. I then read to him until it was lunch time when Amy and Ava showed up. Sam loves his big sister and she plays with him as well. They are best buds at times and so cute together until he tells her she is in "time out", then she shows her feelings. He is a stinker at times!
After lunch Nancy drew a dinosaur on paper and hopes to be able to transfer it to the top of a cake she baking for his birthday. Sam wants a dinosaur cake for his birthday which is Saturday. He will be 2 and its Nancy's birthday as well; she will be 55, yikes where did the time go? All of a sudden the kids are fascinated by dino's, seems the little boy across the street is into them and has tons of the stuffed toys and now our kids are into them as well; fads at the this age! Oh well it should be interesting to see how this cake turns out; pictures to follow.
After they left I read and napped until it was time to vacuum the house and get ready for supper. Nancy went to pick up GG and I cut Swiss chard to sauteed. The nematodes have moved in on the chard and this maybe the last big mess as I pulled up 3 plants to see why they were dying and found the roots looks like knots. The microscopic worms suck the life out of the plants and cause the leaves and stems to shrivel up and eventually die. The only natural preventive is marigolds and I have them around my tomato plants but you have to treat the soil with a liquid killer that is no longer on the market to really kill them. Anyhow we had a nice long stretch of good eatin from the row of chard and I'm going to replace it with kale as its going wild this year. The best kale I've ever grown and its so succulent and green, eventually the heat will get everything especially if it stays this hot as it is now. Nancy also made a nice turnip casserole with bread crumbs on top; much like scalloped potato's, very tasty to go along with meatloaf and chard. I had picked some fresh broccoli which are very small heads that sprout up on the stalks where the main head has been harvested to add to the supper.
Betsy came by and polished off the turnip casserole as well as had a plate of the meatloaf and then gave GG a ride home. We just chilled watching FOX News until it was race time then I headed into the bedroom to read and watch the Daytona 500 Race. I must have dozed off and on but did awaken to where a race car struck the back of a truck carrying jet fuel which caught on fire, wow what a unique occurrence never before seen at a major sporting event. I shut the lights out after 10 PM and will read about it this morning in the paper(on the Internet). LATER
Monday, February 27, 2012
Sunday
Well it was down right chilly this morning with temp's in the low 50's and a strong breeze coming from the north made it feel even cooler yet and with the high humidity, yikes it was cold. After Chester woke us up at 5'ish we managed to stay in the sack until around 7 then it was get ready for worship at Element Church in Tampa. We headed out after a lite breakfast and our quiet time with neighbors Dan and Carol. Bobby had another awesome message on what it means to take ownership within the church and how we become so caught up in our own lives that we forget or ignore the circumstances of others we know; much like the story of the Good Samaritan who found the man who had been beaten and robbed and while he was the outcast in society he was the only one who stopped to assist the man. Nancy's first cousins from Pennsylvania,Tom and Kathy were there and it was good to see them again after a year or so. We made plans to get together for a Sunday afternoon get together and visit with their new grand daughter in March.
We stopped off on the way back to Pinellas and had a quick lunch at Chili's in Pinellas Park. Nancy and I then made a quick stop at the house before heading to the nursing home where we pushed patients in wheelchairs to the 2PM service. That is such a rewarding time to give back to these shutins as many are in the last stages of their lives and we had a good many volunteers from SFBC(our old church) as well for a change. We sang 4 hymns and had a short message given by one of the lay pastors, Kurt. It was good to see some of the old members from church there as well and catch up on all that's going on in their lives as well. I got orders for some collards greens from one couple who are from Kentucky that we really enjoyed their friendship but hadn't seen in a couple years.They are the folks who taught us how to play chickenfoot dominos.
After the nursing home Nancy took her mom shopping and I read the afternoon waiting for the rain delay to be over for the Daytonia 500 that was scheduled to be run. Well that never happened for the 1st in its history so it will be run on Monday. I snacked on some mixed nuts for supper as we had a rather filling lunch of salsa and chips, tacos and quesadilla's. Yikes was that ever dewisheous. Well not much else is going on except it looks as if winter hasn't quite left the mountains as the temps were pretty low there over the week-end. We are sure getting antsy about heading up during the month of May which is just around the corner, LATER
We stopped off on the way back to Pinellas and had a quick lunch at Chili's in Pinellas Park. Nancy and I then made a quick stop at the house before heading to the nursing home where we pushed patients in wheelchairs to the 2PM service. That is such a rewarding time to give back to these shutins as many are in the last stages of their lives and we had a good many volunteers from SFBC(our old church) as well for a change. We sang 4 hymns and had a short message given by one of the lay pastors, Kurt. It was good to see some of the old members from church there as well and catch up on all that's going on in their lives as well. I got orders for some collards greens from one couple who are from Kentucky that we really enjoyed their friendship but hadn't seen in a couple years.They are the folks who taught us how to play chickenfoot dominos.
After the nursing home Nancy took her mom shopping and I read the afternoon waiting for the rain delay to be over for the Daytonia 500 that was scheduled to be run. Well that never happened for the 1st in its history so it will be run on Monday. I snacked on some mixed nuts for supper as we had a rather filling lunch of salsa and chips, tacos and quesadilla's. Yikes was that ever dewisheous. Well not much else is going on except it looks as if winter hasn't quite left the mountains as the temps were pretty low there over the week-end. We are sure getting antsy about heading up during the month of May which is just around the corner, LATER
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Blogger deleted about 2/3's of my post.
Actually we were busy with the oil change, a long nature walk after lunch and then over to help The Ross's hang pictures in their new house. We made a large bowl of cole slaw from my last cabbage head to take with us the The Botbyl's for a supper of sliders and oven taters. We then paled a couple games where Nancy and I both won and then we headed home and read until lights out. I hate to rewrite a post, LATER
Saturday
Well it was a chilly morning to start with temp's down into the 50;s yikes what a change from the past few mornings where it was in the 70's, anyhow the sun was shinning and there was blue skies with a northern breeze most of the day. After sleeeping in until nearly 7 after Chester had us awake at 5'ish we had a lite breakfast before heading out to Twill Auto to help with the oil change for single moms. This is an outreach of our house church. Dan Botbyl is the owner of Twill
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Friday
Well it was in the low 70's this AM as Chester woke us all up around 5. I managed to sleep in until the alarm went off at 6 shutting that big mouth bird off in my consciousness. After my quiet time and a bowl of oatmeal with fruit I pedalled out to the rec for a couple hours of pickle ball. It seems the intermediate players will be joining us on Fridays now that basketball has taken over their Saturday morning time slot for the gym, so there was a rather large crowd with 3 courts in full swing and 4-6 waiting most times. The play was still fairly good with most of the players actually playing better and I noticed lots of new faces. I had a wet shirt by 10 o'clock and was ready to relax after 3 hard playing morning. It's strange how quickly you can get out of shape; starting with sore muscles and a slight loss of stamina in just a week of not playing hard. I guess that comes with age as well.
I stopped off at the library on the way home and picked up a couple reads for the week-end. Nancy was at her Bible study for Fridays so I did a load of laundry and hung that out after watering the gardens. The new Cilantro and Sweet basil plants I separated into 3 pots each are showing signs of new growth as that was a success. I'm hoping they will make it so I can transplant them in the mountains in May. There is nothing like the fresh taste of both herbs especially Basil on a salad and Cilantro on Mexican food, Yikes that is good. I sat back and read until Nancy came from her study. We finished the taco meat and Jasmine rice for lunch and with a little jalapeno peppers on it, dewisheous.
We stayed in most of the afternoon as the humidity was back with vengeance and read until it was time to get ready to head over to GG's for supper. I pulled a huge bag of fresh kale as well as a huge bag of collard greens for our dear friends Ralph and Sara Ann. He is not doing well due to congestive heart failure plus his age and several previous heart attacks. If you think of it keep both of them in your thoughts and prayers; she at this time is his primary care giver and you can see the toll its taking on her health as well. We didn't visit except to say hi and give them the greens as Ralph really loves greens. Both of them are from Galax, Va. and we have grown fond of their company over the years especially when we met them at our cabin in a strange sort of way. They had come to the foot of the hill from our cabin looking for an old pastor friend that use to own a cabin there. We only knew Ralph and Sara Ann by face from our old church in Seminole. I was in a ditch cleaning it out at the foot of our drive when I saw this car from Florida and then I recognized the Payne's. Well our friendship has blossomed over the years and we regularly visited with them when they came to Galax for the summers as well as they would visit us at the cabin. Super nice folks and its sad to see him in this condition.
Well we visited and ate with GG until nearly 9 PM before calling it a day. She had a nice pork loin with sauerkraut(one of our favorite meals), kielbasa, and hot dogs as well as smashed taters and Nancy made a huge salad, good eatin' once again and after the clean up we headed out. GG has really done quite well and is daily going through Will's clothes and things they have accumulated over their 60 years together. She is actually starting to regain some of the weight she lost during his final days.
Well it was a full day and Saturday seems to be another one as well as our house church will do FREE oil changes and safety checks at Twill Auto for single moms and wives whose husbands are in the military and overseas. We also give each mom a $10 gas card. We are starting to get some repeat moms as we do this every 3 months. Its fun to give to those who are least expecting despite the idea that some of the moms are very skeptical that anything is free. We have made a believer(no pun intended) out of several as we share the love of Christ in an unorthodox way. I think we have 11 appointments scheduled during this 9-12 program. LATER
I stopped off at the library on the way home and picked up a couple reads for the week-end. Nancy was at her Bible study for Fridays so I did a load of laundry and hung that out after watering the gardens. The new Cilantro and Sweet basil plants I separated into 3 pots each are showing signs of new growth as that was a success. I'm hoping they will make it so I can transplant them in the mountains in May. There is nothing like the fresh taste of both herbs especially Basil on a salad and Cilantro on Mexican food, Yikes that is good. I sat back and read until Nancy came from her study. We finished the taco meat and Jasmine rice for lunch and with a little jalapeno peppers on it, dewisheous.
We stayed in most of the afternoon as the humidity was back with vengeance and read until it was time to get ready to head over to GG's for supper. I pulled a huge bag of fresh kale as well as a huge bag of collard greens for our dear friends Ralph and Sara Ann. He is not doing well due to congestive heart failure plus his age and several previous heart attacks. If you think of it keep both of them in your thoughts and prayers; she at this time is his primary care giver and you can see the toll its taking on her health as well. We didn't visit except to say hi and give them the greens as Ralph really loves greens. Both of them are from Galax, Va. and we have grown fond of their company over the years especially when we met them at our cabin in a strange sort of way. They had come to the foot of the hill from our cabin looking for an old pastor friend that use to own a cabin there. We only knew Ralph and Sara Ann by face from our old church in Seminole. I was in a ditch cleaning it out at the foot of our drive when I saw this car from Florida and then I recognized the Payne's. Well our friendship has blossomed over the years and we regularly visited with them when they came to Galax for the summers as well as they would visit us at the cabin. Super nice folks and its sad to see him in this condition.
Well we visited and ate with GG until nearly 9 PM before calling it a day. She had a nice pork loin with sauerkraut(one of our favorite meals), kielbasa, and hot dogs as well as smashed taters and Nancy made a huge salad, good eatin' once again and after the clean up we headed out. GG has really done quite well and is daily going through Will's clothes and things they have accumulated over their 60 years together. She is actually starting to regain some of the weight she lost during his final days.
Well it was a full day and Saturday seems to be another one as well as our house church will do FREE oil changes and safety checks at Twill Auto for single moms and wives whose husbands are in the military and overseas. We also give each mom a $10 gas card. We are starting to get some repeat moms as we do this every 3 months. Its fun to give to those who are least expecting despite the idea that some of the moms are very skeptical that anything is free. We have made a believer(no pun intended) out of several as we share the love of Christ in an unorthodox way. I think we have 11 appointments scheduled during this 9-12 program. LATER
Friday, February 24, 2012
Thursday
Well it was another busy day and while the temps have stayed nice due to the early morning fog and overcast skies the humidity is back in force, so it's a/c time once again, oh well!! Sure am looking forward to when we can enjoy the fresh crisp mountain air each morning. The morning was much the same with Chester next door waking the hood up with his loud crowing around 5'ish but I managed to tune him out until 6 when I rolled out for the day. After my quiet time and a bowl of oatmeal with fruit I jumped on the bike for my ride to the rec. Wow was it ever foggy as I could barely see 1/4 mile ahead. It was almost eiry and surreal and so quiet except for Chester's big mouth.
We had a good showing of players for 2 plus hours of pickle ball play and once again I had a soaked shirt from play. We are starting to gear up for the Goodlife Games the end of March which will feature pickle ball at our facility. Many will come from around the state to play especially those who participant in the national tournament in Arizona. Those guys and gals are hard to beat as they strictly play together whereas because we are a public gathering and we must play with different pardners daily. It's still fun and great experience playing with these great players. Hopefully we can beat them this year as we have some good players as well and we are teaming up a little different from years past.
Well after my workout I stopped off at the library for a new read then headed home. It wasn't as foggy but there was still enough dampness in the air to help hold the dust down so I started mowing the yards. I gathered up 5 huge trash cans of oak leaves and mulched them down to 1 1/2 cans, then spread them on the garden. This will provide worm food throughout the summer as well as add compost back for my vegetables. I finally finished around 12:30 and headed in for a bite of lunch. Nancy took her mother shopping and stayed to have lunch with her at her house while I mowed. I was still covered in dirt and dust from the mower so I nearly had to take a bath outside using the hose. It won't be long until the fuzzies arrive and the yellow pollen from the oaks as the new leaves begin to form and fill out. These fuzzies also make good compost as well but they become a real nuisance as well; as they cling to your hair and always manage to invade the house especially when working in the yards.
Well it was clean up the left overs day both for lunch and supper for us so it was nothing to write about unless you like fried spuds from leftover oven taters'and BBQ chicken. That cleaned out the fridge which makes it possible to add more as we are the family supper center, although tonight (Friday) we have been invited to eat over at GG's for roast pork and sauerkraut, one of my fav's. Amy and the family will be there along with Betsy and Braden. After our clean up we settled in to watch Fox News and then the Idol for an hour before I retreated to the reading room. It wasn't long before the bed was calling my name around 10 PM. LATER
We had a good showing of players for 2 plus hours of pickle ball play and once again I had a soaked shirt from play. We are starting to gear up for the Goodlife Games the end of March which will feature pickle ball at our facility. Many will come from around the state to play especially those who participant in the national tournament in Arizona. Those guys and gals are hard to beat as they strictly play together whereas because we are a public gathering and we must play with different pardners daily. It's still fun and great experience playing with these great players. Hopefully we can beat them this year as we have some good players as well and we are teaming up a little different from years past.
Well after my workout I stopped off at the library for a new read then headed home. It wasn't as foggy but there was still enough dampness in the air to help hold the dust down so I started mowing the yards. I gathered up 5 huge trash cans of oak leaves and mulched them down to 1 1/2 cans, then spread them on the garden. This will provide worm food throughout the summer as well as add compost back for my vegetables. I finally finished around 12:30 and headed in for a bite of lunch. Nancy took her mother shopping and stayed to have lunch with her at her house while I mowed. I was still covered in dirt and dust from the mower so I nearly had to take a bath outside using the hose. It won't be long until the fuzzies arrive and the yellow pollen from the oaks as the new leaves begin to form and fill out. These fuzzies also make good compost as well but they become a real nuisance as well; as they cling to your hair and always manage to invade the house especially when working in the yards.
Well it was clean up the left overs day both for lunch and supper for us so it was nothing to write about unless you like fried spuds from leftover oven taters'and BBQ chicken. That cleaned out the fridge which makes it possible to add more as we are the family supper center, although tonight (Friday) we have been invited to eat over at GG's for roast pork and sauerkraut, one of my fav's. Amy and the family will be there along with Betsy and Braden. After our clean up we settled in to watch Fox News and then the Idol for an hour before I retreated to the reading room. It wasn't long before the bed was calling my name around 10 PM. LATER
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