Cool Saturday on a Cold Sunday Morning

Well Saturday was an overcast, grey skies morning but no rain except for an occasional snow shower. Actually it was more like a light sleet, just little balls of frozen white water. There was a slight breeze which made it feel colder than the 36 degrees. The once beautiful leaves were fast losing their appeal and falling to the ground where I spent 5 hours through out the day raking.

After a delicious breakfast of buckwheat cakes and bacon and of course a few minutes with the Creator during my quiet time; I bundled up and ventured out with the rake. I was starved for activity after being cooped up in the cabin due to all the wet weather the past few days. The leaves were plastered to the new grass in the out back yard(newly cleared) so I wanted to help with giving it some breathing room as well as get my gardens ready for next years Spring planting. Leaves are an excellent mulch or compost and my fishin' worms love them as they decay. Nancy finally ventured from the cabin long enough to go for a hike. Well we decided since we hadn't been to the mailbox in 2 days that would be a good 2 mile walk. She was bundled up including a head wrap that would have made the Eskimos proud.

We received a sweet Thank You note from grand daughter Annsley(of course Jill did the writing as she is just 2) with cute photos included from her second birthday bash in Tampa. Wow was that ever a fun time. We could use a little of that HOT weather here and to think that was just a week ago. Anyhow the cabin stayed warm and snug as Nancy prepared for this evening get together with the original Sequence players; Kimberly, Audine, Ray and Eddie. There was once again to much good eatin's as usual and as usual once again the gals whupped us. I can't figure out how they get all the Jack's all the time. I went 4 games before I saw the first Jack in my hand. Oh well somehow I sense there is a little skulduggery going on; just haven't as of yet been able to put my finger on it. Kimberly was hurting from just getting out of the hospital for a nerve block this very morning so she was ready to call it an evening by 9:30.

The temperature had dropped down in the high 30's by the time they headed out for home and the wind was starting to really kick up. We closed all the blinds to help hold the heat in during the night and after our showers I watched a little sports while Nancy surfed Face Book. All that raking left me with tired muscles and a slight wind burn to the face. During the night I could hear branches, leaves and chairs rocking on the porch and deck from the high wind. This morning Sunday I checked the back porch and it was right on 32. With the wind it felt like 23 according to Ray's Weather.com. YIKES it's never this cold in Florida. Maybe we should re-think how long we want to stay here if its going to be this cold this early.

Well we are getting ready to head out for worship at Cornerstone and I think we have our house church(small group) meeting later this evening at Mechelle and Andy's hacienda. She will probably want to play Sequence afterwards and beat up on us guys, again. My ole' saying is"as long as she is beating on me she's leaving someone else alone." Oh well so much for pain and suffering. I write this with numb fingers, LATER

Friday

Well the heavy rain has let up with just a bit of a drizzle. It was in the 40's this AM but with overcast skies. There wasn't much we could do outside after our quiet times and breakfast so we just hung out on the computer and I started a new book. Finally the drizzle lighten up enough to head up the mountain for a good hike. We ran into Joe and Jetta Browning on top and stopped for a visit, she shared a couple new recipes with Nancy. After getting back from the hike Nancy wanted to get an apple pie baked before lunch. I peeled the Granny Smith Apples while she got the crust ready. After getting the pie in the oven we finished the last of the vegetable soup. Wow was that ever good on this cold wet day.

After lunch I vacuumed while Nancy got the pork roast ready to put in the oven. We were entertaining Helen and Joe for supper around 4:30. I read until it was time to peel the spuds for the smashed potatoes as the rain continued off and on most of the afternoon keeping us indoors. Well not much else happened except for the delicious pork roast with sauerkraut, mashed potatoes and rolls. The warm apple pie topped off the meal. They left and Ray stopped by for a visit just as we finished the dishes. He stayed and visited for about an hour or so. One of his dogs, Rascal who had been gone a week or more just showed back up at his house on Sunday. He decided if the dog wanted to be at his place that bad he would just keep it. It had to have come all the way from the other side of Sparta 8 plus miles or more. Unbelievable!!

Well not much else is happening just hoping for some sunshine so we can at least get outside and do some work. LATER

Thursday

The rain falling on the tin roof once again awaken us around 7 AM. I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep in those warm flannel sheets; however I had been once again trained last week in Florida to get up for pickle ball and be at the gym by 8. The cold rain and fog had once again dominated any outside activities so it would be an inside morning. Around noon we noticed the skies lighten enough to where we could see the outline of the sun and temps had warmed up to near 50 so we headed up the mountain for a hike. We stopped by and visited with Norm and Betty for a moment plus we wanted to pay for the dozen of brown eggs he gave us on Tuesday. We also noticed a for sale sign on Mike and Nancy's beautiful cabin on top with the fantastic view, Wow were we ever surprised to see that.

On the way heading back to the cabin the drizzle started once again so we felt lucky to get in an hour hike. We got ready to head out to West Jefferson which is about 45 miles from our cabin around 2 PM. On the way we made a couple stops; to get a map of that area from the Chamber of Commerce, pickup some corks at Thistle Meadow Winery for the Scuppernong wine I'm about ready to bottle, Walmart, CVS and finally Smokey Mountain Barbecue. We had been waiting in the parking lot for about 5 minutes when our dear friends and former pastor arrived.

Craig and Beverly now live in Richmond, Virginia. They just learned in recent days they are to be grandparents for the first time and it will be a grandson. We are excited for them and today we also learned we will be grandparents again for the third time and it will be our first grandson. Ava Mae will be a big sister to Samuel who is due to arrive the second of March about the same time as Jenny is due. We had a super 2 hour meal and visit with each of talking constantly. The time just flew by and we shared so much. Craig baptized both Nancy and I as well as Bobby. Nancy and Beverly were pregnant together with Amy and Susan and we have been close friends for the past 26 years. Alan is a year older than Bobby but both were buddy's growing up and each are now pastors. Alan is in the Hell's Kitchen area in New York City and of course Bobby is in the Tampa Bay area. We are setting the standard for grand parenting now that we will have our third grand child in March. Susan just married this year so it maybe awhile.

Well the rain just about stopped on this side of the mountain but in West Jefferson it was still drizzling. The temperature here was 48 when we got home around 9 PM. Well will close for now. LATER

Wednesday

The morning started out with rain drops falling on the tin roof sometime after midnight as well as falling temperatures. Actually last evening the temp's were still in the low 60's when we headed to bed;but this morning it was 42 and it hasn't changed more than 5-6 degrees all day. The drizzle and fog has been with us all day and it raining harder as I write. I just came in from the porch and it's a heat wave at 40 degrees up 4 degrees from earlier in the day. This is a day we won't forget for awhile, especially after such a beautiful day as yesterday.

We pretty much spent the day inside except for a brief lull in the rain after lunch when I was able to pick enough green beans for dinner. I also picked about 5 small green peppers, kale and some parsley all except the peppers went into a pot of vegetable beef soup. Wow was that ever a good meal on such a cold, dreary day. We spent most of the day watching T.V. and reading except for a brief time when we cleaned the cabin; I vacuumed and Nancy dusted. She also did a load of laundry and the steam from the dryer vent looked like smoke as it drifted from out under the back porch. I would never have guessed we would go from heat records one week to cold records the next. This week end they are forecasting low 30's with snow showers, believe me we have such mixed feelings about this total wipe out of a day. It's only going to get colder here in the mountains and eventually it has to cool down some what in Florida. The rain and fog are such limiting factors for happy outdoor memories. Oh well!!

Tomorrow we are meeting long time friends and former pastor Craig and his wife Beverly in West Jefferson for dinner around 5:30. We will leave early in the day and hopefully do a little shopping. We are looking forward to their visit catching up on our families as its been a year and lots have happened. They just found out their son, Allan and wife Jenny are expecting their first child which happens to be a boy. They are so excited to finally become grandparents and of course we are excited for them as well. Jenny is due within a day of our Amy's due date. We haven't learned the sex of this grandchild but will know in a day or so. Well the only excitement around here has been that our "mountain mom" Helen proposed a question to Pioneer Woman on Face Book and she, Ree answered her. LATER.

Tuesday

What a difference 24 hours makes in the weather. Monday afternoon was cold, wet and a just plain day to stay in the warm cabin. This morning we awakened to partly cloudy skies which eventually turned sky blue with bright sunshine. Temp's moved up to the high 60's and by early afternoon we had 70 on the back porch. I just checked outside and its still in the low 60's at 8 PM with clear skies; but all of that is forecasted to change by morning. I even cut the heater off when we left the cabin this morning for a fun day on the parkway.

After our quiet times and a lite breakfast we got ready to head out to see the colors south of us and at a higher elevation on the parkway at Doughton Park. We made several stops enroute there and met 2 other couples from Florida who were also checking out the colors. We were a little disappointed in that lots of the trees were without leaves due to the windy weather that came through last week and yesterday. There are a few oaks that haven't turned yet but the majority of maples have loss most of their leaves out on our mountain as well as the populars and gum trees. I think its peak where we are, however with this next front coming through tomorrow I think we have seen the last of the vibrant colors for this year here on the mountain.

We stopped off at the Bluffs Restaurant on the parkway and had a lite lunch. The place was packed with tourists checking out the colors and most were in agreement this is probably the peak for leaf colors this week. After lunch we headed over to visit with Helen and leave off some books for her and Joe to read. I brought several library books from home of some of our favorite authors. We constantly shared and traded books all summer. After leaving Helen's we came back over to pick up Cora Sue as her brother own's several pumpkin fields in the area. We managed to rescue about a dozen pumpkins from being plowed under as the field had been picked over. There were several hundred just lying there waiting to be adopted.

We came back and got our mountain hike in to the top and what a gorgeous day for a hike. Once again we could see downtown Winston-Salem. It actually was a little warm on the west side of the mountain as the afternoon sun made us sweat. We unloaded the pumpkins and began to place them around on the porches and yard. We carried 3 down to the circle drive to build our pumpkin man. Well, while I went to get a stake to hold the 3 in place 2 of them rolled down the driveway and into the brier patch at the foot of the drive. Nancy was able to recover one but the other one is safely tucked away out of reach in the brier's at Jodi's and Gerald's.

Well Nancy fried up a couple of pork tenderloin chops for supper and we finished the salad from last night as well as the leftover Mexican rice we brought from home. Tomorrow is supposed to be a lousy weather day so we will spend the day around the cabin. Enclosed are a few pics from today for those of you who aren't on Face Book. LATER.

Monday

Yikes it's cold out with temp's in the 40's, damp, overcast and rain. After sleeping in the morning until about 8 AM I did a quick look around outside and was quickly disappointed with the overcast skies. It was initially 54 but after lunch the weather when quickly down hill. At least we got our hike in to the top of the mountain after a breakfast of buckwheat pancakes with eggs on top, of course it was nearly 10 AM before sat down to eat. On our way back down from the top it began to sprinkle and the temperature began to drop. Nancy managed to take a few shots of the trees in the backyard showing their colors. I'm afraid with this rain and a little wind the leaves will be gone before peak is reached. The yard is covered with leaves just since it rained this afternoon. I will enclose a few pics but with the overcast skies the colors are subdued.

While waiting for Nancy to get ready for the hike I managed to remove all the picnic tables and benches from the side deck and store them under the porch out of the rain. A prolonged rain and fog cause a lot of mildew and mold on them even though they are painted. I have several volunteer tomato plants that came up in my compost pile and will transplant them before the real cold weather this weekend. There is a chance for some snow in the higher elevations. The flowering plants we left under the roof line while in Florida prospered from the dripping morning dew. WOW the possibility of snow this weekend and we are only 700 miles from our Florida home.

I started this book a couple days ago and finished COLD MOUNTAIN this afternoon; once the rain and cold made us stay indoors. I find it a good read. I saw the movie years ago but as is the case there was no resemblance between the two. The time setting is during the Civil War.The book leaves you with a few questions but a worth while read and I recommend it.

Nancy made an absolutely delicious potato soup for supper with a fresh salad. The only veggies from the garden were some fresh beet greens, basil and oregano for the salad. The pole beans are still there but the leaves are slowly turning yellow. I have a couple green pepper plants with some fruit and a little bit of kale, but other than that the garden is finished here in the mountains for another year. The soup was made from the last of my spuds.

Well I had to cancel my PB match this evening due to this weather. Hopefully we can get a match in sometime this week but the forecast doesn't look promising. Well will close for now, all my Florida friends stay cool and we will try to stay warm. LATER

Saturday and Sunday

Where did this past week go?? Saturday started out as another unbelievably HOT day. At least I got to sleep in until 8 AM for a change, after all the pickle ball this week with play which began at 8 AM everyday had me looking forward to a morning off. Nancy and I knew we wouldn't be home until late Saturday night so we basically had to get ready to leave on Saturday for our planned 6 AM departure on Sunday. We had a lite breakfast after our quiet times as we knew later in the evening Bobby was planning a family dinner at his house after the birthday party for Annsley at the park.

The party was a success with several kiddies and their parents. The party was held outside at the park where Annsley and her dad go every Friday. Luckily the playground is totally shaded with monster oak trees that helped to keep us from sun stroke. I have never in all my years of Florida living seen the temp's this hot in October. At least it didn't rain and the little ones didn't seem to be bothered by the extreme humidity. Annsley and her friends had a grand time finger painting as well as playing on all the playground equipment.

We headed back to Bob's house to a meal of smoked Boston Butt, a unique and specially made cole slaw by the chef himself, potato casserole and chocolate cake with white icing. Nancy made a spinach dip which worked up our appetites. The dinner was excellent and we stayed and played until nearly 9 PM. Ava and Annsley played, bathed and just had a wonderful time together, especially with all of Annsley new birthday toys. We were pretty much packed on Saturday so we could enjoy the lateness of the evening with the family.

Nancy and I headed out around 6 AM this morning after getting up at 5 AM. It was so hot and humid at that hour with the temperature near 90. Unbelievable!!! Our trip was uneventful and we made excellent time. When we reached the top of the mountain after a grocery and gas stop in Elkin the temp had dropped to 58. After unloading the truck we headed to the top of the mountain for a hike. The sun was shinning brightly with blue skies. Wow did it ever feel good to stretch our legs after being in the truck for nearly 11 hours. We were amazed at the amount of fallen leaves that littered the ground. The trees were really starting to show their colors especially the gums, maples and oaks.

Well will close for now. We went from air conditioning in Florida to gas heat here in the cabin. Enclosed are a few pics from Saturday at the the park and later at Annsley's house as the girls entertained us.LATER