Well I can't complain about the weather as it was just perfect today with temps in the high 60' and scattered clouds. The morning started really early for me as I awakened around 4 :30 after turning off the T.V. last night in disgust with the way the election was heading. I'm not one to politicize the occasion but last nights election make me want to be sick as after 4 years the American folks could not or would not recognize this mans failed policies(or lack thereof) that are going to ruin our nation, oh well the majority has spoken.
After our quiet time, I fried a couple cackle berries along with a couple of slices of pumpernickel bread for toast I headed out to the back yard. It was 60 degrees and by most thought it was cold. I started on the vines along the fence with the hedge trimmer then proceeded to the gardens. I managed to dig and roll weeds that were over 5 ft. tall into the grass area and then mow and mulch them into tiny pieces. That took me hours as I had piles of weeds and grass 6 ft high.
After mulching the weeds I moved the mess into several parts of the garden. I transplanted the tomato, Basil and onion seedlings into pots as well as spaded a couple rows for my beet seedling. I gave several beet seedlings to Tyler for his garden and he shared some collard greens, cauliflower, tomato and pepper seedlings. I worked outside until nearly 4 PM trimming hedges, sweeping porches and putting our luggage into the attic. Wow was it ever a busy day.
Nancy invited GG for supper and I grilled ground venison burgers. Wow were they ever tasty and Betsy came by and had a taste as well. The burgers were awesome and grilled up perfect along with a fresh salad and a few tater tots. Well I can barely keep my eyes open as its been a long 2 days without much sleep, hopefully I can sleep tonight. Helen reported this AM it was 23 at her place and the ground was covered in white stuff, LATER
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Tuesday
Well I'm writing this on Wednesday morning after another sleepless night; back in a strange bed with a fan on overhead and of course after what I thought was a disappointing re-election of a man who wants to be a dictator.
The morning started out with not sleeping on Monday night as I anticipated our return to Florida. I just can not sleep knowing I have to make that drive plus do the last minute chores in closing up the cabin for the winter. We both decided to arise at 3:15 AM and start our closing act. It was cold with temps below freezing and another heavy frost as we started out at 4:30 AM. The ride down off the mountain is one with heavy hearts but also exciting at the same time as we would see our daughter Amy and her family for supper. Ava and Sam were so funny when drove up at their house around 6 for supper.
The trip down was uneventful and we made it in just under 12 hours. Now that I have to stop every 1 1/2 hours to walk because of the prior blood clot in the leg a couple years ago. We ate at Mickey D's for breakfast and Subway for lunch. The temps finally warmed up as we started into Georgia and it reached 81 when we approached Tampa just about rush hour.
Our cooler with about 50 pounds of fresh killed venison provided by our friend Andy, made the trip as the ice never melted. Our first priority was to get the meat packed into individual freezer bags and into the deep freezer. Once that was successfully done we started unpacking and then headed over to Amy and Tyler 's for a delicious chicken casserole, salad and roll supper. We hung out and played with Ava and Sam until it was their bedtime and mine as well.
Well I can't say I'm thrilled to be back in this flat land but I'm thankful we had a safe trip. We saw as many cars on the Howard Franklin Bridge as we entered into Pinellas County than we saw all summer in the mountains. It is nice weather wise as we learned from our "mountain mom" snow was falling in the high country. We went from heat to a/c all in one day, LATER
The morning started out with not sleeping on Monday night as I anticipated our return to Florida. I just can not sleep knowing I have to make that drive plus do the last minute chores in closing up the cabin for the winter. We both decided to arise at 3:15 AM and start our closing act. It was cold with temps below freezing and another heavy frost as we started out at 4:30 AM. The ride down off the mountain is one with heavy hearts but also exciting at the same time as we would see our daughter Amy and her family for supper. Ava and Sam were so funny when drove up at their house around 6 for supper.
The trip down was uneventful and we made it in just under 12 hours. Now that I have to stop every 1 1/2 hours to walk because of the prior blood clot in the leg a couple years ago. We ate at Mickey D's for breakfast and Subway for lunch. The temps finally warmed up as we started into Georgia and it reached 81 when we approached Tampa just about rush hour.
Our cooler with about 50 pounds of fresh killed venison provided by our friend Andy, made the trip as the ice never melted. Our first priority was to get the meat packed into individual freezer bags and into the deep freezer. Once that was successfully done we started unpacking and then headed over to Amy and Tyler 's for a delicious chicken casserole, salad and roll supper. We hung out and played with Ava and Sam until it was their bedtime and mine as well.
Well I can't say I'm thrilled to be back in this flat land but I'm thankful we had a safe trip. We saw as many cars on the Howard Franklin Bridge as we entered into Pinellas County than we saw all summer in the mountains. It is nice weather wise as we learned from our "mountain mom" snow was falling in the high country. We went from heat to a/c all in one day, LATER
Monday, November 5, 2012
Monday
Well this will be my final post from the cabin this year as we spent the day getting the cabin ready for winter and packing as we head south early in the morning. Its been a bittersweet day as we totally love our little mountain cabin, the great friends we have made here and of course our church family at Cornerstone. We are looking forward to some grand baby time as well as seeing Nancy's mom and of course our kids.
The morning started with a heavy frost and temps down into the high 20's as we rolled out around 7 AM. After our quiet times we cleaned out the freezer of some small tidbits of bacon, a couple frozen biscuits and topped with a couple cackle berries. I also heated a leftover buckwheat cake to top off the breakfast. I started outside after the sun warmed the frost off the roof with taking my seedling out of their pots and rolling them in wet newspaper. I also dug up my beets and saved the small ones for replanting when I get my garden in shape later this week in Florida.
I moved all my gas powered equipment into the basement as the temps stay around 50 degree in the winter months. I piddled around outside as the sun really warmed the air after the cold morning. We both had a good start over the past couple days of getting ready for this move after being here for over 5 months. We had a bite of lunch by cleaning up the leftover spaghetti and garlic bread. We decided it was time to take our final hike for this year. The temps had really warmed up to close to 50 as we headed out and it seemed even warmer on top. The air was so clear and visibility was almost 3-D like. We stopped and visited with Norm. Dean Todd was also there assisting Norm with his yard clean up. We then headed on down to return a book and some some ear muffs to Joe and Jetta. They unfortunately were off the mountain and we didn't get to say good-by to them except later by phone.
We took the golf cart out to the mailbox for our last trip in it this year. It was a beautiful day but out of the sun it was rather cool. We came back and said good-by to neighbor Gerald as he too is leaving the mountain tomorrow. Several others phoned to say good-by as well. Our "mountain mom", Helen came by to say good-by also. We finally packed up our clothes and I loaded the truck while Nancy baked a couple salmon filet's, cooked some frozen broccoli and leftover Cole slaw. I cleaned out the fridge in the basement and defrosted it as well.
Our good friend Andy called about 7 PM and said he killed a deer this evening and he had some meat for me. I headed over to his place and while Andy butchered the carcass Caleb's and I ground up several pounds, cubed steaked several pounds and had a couple pounds of whole back strap(tenderloin). We will have some good eatin' this winter along with the package Gerald gave us from his kill on Saturday. Many thanks to those who keep us supplied with venison as there is no better eatin'.
Well its time for the shower as 3:30 comes early. I want to be through Charlotte before the rush hour as we plan to leave around 5 AM. I understand there is the possibility of bad weather from a storm that maybe replicate Hurricane Sandy from last week, LATER
The morning started with a heavy frost and temps down into the high 20's as we rolled out around 7 AM. After our quiet times we cleaned out the freezer of some small tidbits of bacon, a couple frozen biscuits and topped with a couple cackle berries. I also heated a leftover buckwheat cake to top off the breakfast. I started outside after the sun warmed the frost off the roof with taking my seedling out of their pots and rolling them in wet newspaper. I also dug up my beets and saved the small ones for replanting when I get my garden in shape later this week in Florida.
I moved all my gas powered equipment into the basement as the temps stay around 50 degree in the winter months. I piddled around outside as the sun really warmed the air after the cold morning. We both had a good start over the past couple days of getting ready for this move after being here for over 5 months. We had a bite of lunch by cleaning up the leftover spaghetti and garlic bread. We decided it was time to take our final hike for this year. The temps had really warmed up to close to 50 as we headed out and it seemed even warmer on top. The air was so clear and visibility was almost 3-D like. We stopped and visited with Norm. Dean Todd was also there assisting Norm with his yard clean up. We then headed on down to return a book and some some ear muffs to Joe and Jetta. They unfortunately were off the mountain and we didn't get to say good-by to them except later by phone.
We took the golf cart out to the mailbox for our last trip in it this year. It was a beautiful day but out of the sun it was rather cool. We came back and said good-by to neighbor Gerald as he too is leaving the mountain tomorrow. Several others phoned to say good-by as well. Our "mountain mom", Helen came by to say good-by also. We finally packed up our clothes and I loaded the truck while Nancy baked a couple salmon filet's, cooked some frozen broccoli and leftover Cole slaw. I cleaned out the fridge in the basement and defrosted it as well.
Our good friend Andy called about 7 PM and said he killed a deer this evening and he had some meat for me. I headed over to his place and while Andy butchered the carcass Caleb's and I ground up several pounds, cubed steaked several pounds and had a couple pounds of whole back strap(tenderloin). We will have some good eatin' this winter along with the package Gerald gave us from his kill on Saturday. Many thanks to those who keep us supplied with venison as there is no better eatin'.
Well its time for the shower as 3:30 comes early. I want to be through Charlotte before the rush hour as we plan to leave around 5 AM. I understand there is the possibility of bad weather from a storm that maybe replicate Hurricane Sandy from last week, LATER
Sunday
(I'm sure you can tell I'm writing this post on Monday morning as it was late when we got back to the cabin last night.) The morning started with cold temp's once again down in the middle 30's. After our extra hour of sleep we rolled out to hot cups of coffee and green tea. We did our quiet times then had our bowls of oatmeal with wild blue berries and a banana before getting ready to head out to Cornerstone for worship. We were sad to think this day would be our last time together with these great folks for another 6 months or more but excited as well with the thought we were helping with the Big Daddy Weave concert the rest of the day and evening.
The worship was of music with our own home grown Blue Grass Gospel Band, Priority Blue. They were awesome, very inspiring and just blessed your heart as well. We had a shortened service as the big band tour bus and trailer was already in the church parking lot. We broke up around 11 AM then started in with the many chores that needed to be completed to make this a successful event. The concert was sold out with 650 tickets distributed and we made possible for an overflow as well. I would estimate we had another 100 church folks working the event along with 40-50 youths from Cornerstone as well.
After completing many of the last minute chores we took off for the The Pines Restaurant with the Dalton's and Hearl's for lunch. Afterwards we stopped by the Dalton Farm to see their 5 new Alpaca's they acquired from Tennessee. We headed back to church around 2 and it was determined some of us wouldn't be needed until 4 PM for our jobs so I headed back to the Dalton's too watch the Panthers whup up on the Redskins for only their second win of the season. (I learned the Bucs won in Oakland after getting home from the concert).
We headed back to the church and I met up with Nancy who stayed and they were starting to grill a couple hundreds hot dogs that I was to help prepare along with the youth for their fund raiser.All of the food that included dogs, chips,drinks and home made baked goods were donated by the church members and the refreshments were for the patrons at a donation only cost to them. I think they raised over $1200 dollars for next years youth misson trip. Anyhow we offered the refreshments up until the concert started then again at intermission and then we gave away everything after the show. You could see your breath as we did our thing outside beside the church entrance; it was down right chilly and when we left the temp was 38 degrees, yikes!!!
The concert was awesome with inspiring testimonies and the music left you feeling wonderful. We had several youth groups from various church's through the mountains area even some from as far away as Charlotte. The concert ended somewhere around close to 10 PM but the artists stayed to pray with many who came forward with issues they were dealing with and afterwards many came out for pictures, to sign autographs and generally mingle with the crowd as they left. I had the opportunity to speak with Aaaron Shust and shake his hand and learn he was married in Sarasota, Florida when he found out we were heading back there on Tuesday. He seems a down to earth fellow who is dedicated to his ministry as a contemporary christian artist. This was the third time he has been here to Cornerstone and once again honored us as a venue that has real passion for reaching the community for Christ and for our great down home cooks. We do have some great dedicated folks who know how to please with food.
It was going on 11PM by the time we broke down our area and there were still many folks mingling as we left. We left with many hugs and well wishes as we headed out for the last time this year, LATER
The worship was of music with our own home grown Blue Grass Gospel Band, Priority Blue. They were awesome, very inspiring and just blessed your heart as well. We had a shortened service as the big band tour bus and trailer was already in the church parking lot. We broke up around 11 AM then started in with the many chores that needed to be completed to make this a successful event. The concert was sold out with 650 tickets distributed and we made possible for an overflow as well. I would estimate we had another 100 church folks working the event along with 40-50 youths from Cornerstone as well.
After completing many of the last minute chores we took off for the The Pines Restaurant with the Dalton's and Hearl's for lunch. Afterwards we stopped by the Dalton Farm to see their 5 new Alpaca's they acquired from Tennessee. We headed back to church around 2 and it was determined some of us wouldn't be needed until 4 PM for our jobs so I headed back to the Dalton's too watch the Panthers whup up on the Redskins for only their second win of the season. (I learned the Bucs won in Oakland after getting home from the concert).
We headed back to the church and I met up with Nancy who stayed and they were starting to grill a couple hundreds hot dogs that I was to help prepare along with the youth for their fund raiser.All of the food that included dogs, chips,drinks and home made baked goods were donated by the church members and the refreshments were for the patrons at a donation only cost to them. I think they raised over $1200 dollars for next years youth misson trip. Anyhow we offered the refreshments up until the concert started then again at intermission and then we gave away everything after the show. You could see your breath as we did our thing outside beside the church entrance; it was down right chilly and when we left the temp was 38 degrees, yikes!!!
It was going on 11PM by the time we broke down our area and there were still many folks mingling as we left. We left with many hugs and well wishes as we headed out for the last time this year, LATER
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Saturday
Well I slept so little on Friday night that I was just to tired to make a post tonight(I'm writing this Sunday Morning) because I set the alarm clock. My internal clock kept me awake because I set the external one; now that doesn't make sense but that's what I attribute the lack of sleep too, oh well!!! The morning started early 6:15 for the last roll over and check the time so I just got up. We had a church meeting at 9 so Nancy wanted to be sure and have plenty of time for her morning duties. Brrr it was very cold as well with ice and frost everywhere.
We headed out to Cornerstone where we met with all the volunteers who are working the Big Daddy Weave Concert on Sunday Night. Nancy and I are filling in where needed plus assisting the youth with the hot dog sales before and during intermission. We are sold out at over 700 plus about a 150 overflow that will be simulcast into the youth room. We did a few chores to get ready and then we headed out around lunch time and met up with Mechelle at the local Mexican restaurant for lunch in Sparta. It was nearly 2 before we got back to the cabin and thankfully it had warmed up considerably. We headed out for our hike to the top and it was just delightful with clear conditions that allowed us to see downtown Winston. It reached 60 degrees after a low 30's start.
We came back and I tuned into the college football agenda flipping back and forth between a couple good games. Florida came from behind to win as did USF later in the night for a win. We were picking up Helen and Joe for a trip out to supper at Brown's eatery in Sparta around 4:30. We had a good supper of salmon cakes and terriyaki chicken of which we split so we each could taste the other. The baked spuds were giant and the home cooked collards greens were fantastic. Needless to say we waddled out of the place and then stayed and visited for an hour or so with Helen before heading back to the cabin.
I managed to stay awake long enough to hit the shower then watched a little of the Alabama vs LSU game but gave in around 10 PM for the flannel sheets. It was still pretty nice outside at 50 degrees which was nice compared to the past few nights, LATER
We headed out to Cornerstone where we met with all the volunteers who are working the Big Daddy Weave Concert on Sunday Night. Nancy and I are filling in where needed plus assisting the youth with the hot dog sales before and during intermission. We are sold out at over 700 plus about a 150 overflow that will be simulcast into the youth room. We did a few chores to get ready and then we headed out around lunch time and met up with Mechelle at the local Mexican restaurant for lunch in Sparta. It was nearly 2 before we got back to the cabin and thankfully it had warmed up considerably. We headed out for our hike to the top and it was just delightful with clear conditions that allowed us to see downtown Winston. It reached 60 degrees after a low 30's start.
We came back and I tuned into the college football agenda flipping back and forth between a couple good games. Florida came from behind to win as did USF later in the night for a win. We were picking up Helen and Joe for a trip out to supper at Brown's eatery in Sparta around 4:30. We had a good supper of salmon cakes and terriyaki chicken of which we split so we each could taste the other. The baked spuds were giant and the home cooked collards greens were fantastic. Needless to say we waddled out of the place and then stayed and visited for an hour or so with Helen before heading back to the cabin.
I managed to stay awake long enough to hit the shower then watched a little of the Alabama vs LSU game but gave in around 10 PM for the flannel sheets. It was still pretty nice outside at 50 degrees which was nice compared to the past few nights, LATER
Friday, November 2, 2012
Friday
Well the morning started much the usual with a late roll out around 8 AM then our quiet times before a hearty breakfast of buckwheat cakes and a couple cackle berries on top. That held me until 2 PM when we had a frozen pizza for a late lunch. It was a bit nippy to start the day with temps in the high 30's and eventually as the sun came out it warmed up to around 50. I set my seedlings out to get a little sunlight around mid morning. I loaded up my 2 trash cans, several 5 gallon buckets and the empty rain barrel and headed over to the Kluttz's Farm where I gathered each of those containers full of horse manure.
After spreading the collections on my gardens and raised beds it was time to set out on a hike to the top of the mountain. It was quiet on top except we visited briefly with Joe and Jetta before heading back down for a lite lunch. We knew we had to leave for town around 4 PM as we had some errands to run; picking up Nancy's prescriptions at the drug store, dropping off a couple books at the library and then a visit to the Hampton's residence where we visited and settled up a plumbing bill from back in June. It was great to visit with Walt and Theia. They have been family friends since he did our initial plumbing and wiring for our cabin way back in the 90's. They have treated us like family for many years and its unfortunate they are having some health issues that go along with getting up in years. We use to have some great family suppers with them and our kids and their kids and grand kids, but we have missed having any the past couple years. I'm so glad we got to visit with them before leaving this year.
After leaving the Hampton's we headed on over to the Gerald and Kay Luffman where she had a big pot of chili cooking. We brought Cole slaw and Karin brought an iron skillet of corn bread and Kay made a berry cobbler with vanilla ice cream for dessert. I broke down down and had some of the warm delicious cobbler. Mechelle and her family Andy, Caleb and Kallie were there as well along with Karin and Katelyn Hearl. After eating we played a little of Oh (H)ell which is a card game while waiting for Katelyn to return with the Sequence board. We then played several games and finally with the help of Mechelle the guys were victorious for the first time this summer as she had to play with the Gerald and I. We laughed and cut up and had a great time until nearly 10:30 when we headed for the cabin. It was in the 30's as we drove in the lane to the cabin with a very bright nearly full moon hanging over the mountain.
Tomorrow morning we have a meeting at Cornerstone as we make plans for the Big Daddy Weave Concert on Sunday evening and then in the evening we will go out to eat with our "mountain mom" Helen and her brother Joe for supper as we begin to pack up the cabin and get ready to leave on Tuesday morning. We are amazed at how fast this past 5 months have gone by. Sunday we will be at church most of the day as we help with the concert setup and break down as well as the food prep for the singers, LATER
After spreading the collections on my gardens and raised beds it was time to set out on a hike to the top of the mountain. It was quiet on top except we visited briefly with Joe and Jetta before heading back down for a lite lunch. We knew we had to leave for town around 4 PM as we had some errands to run; picking up Nancy's prescriptions at the drug store, dropping off a couple books at the library and then a visit to the Hampton's residence where we visited and settled up a plumbing bill from back in June. It was great to visit with Walt and Theia. They have been family friends since he did our initial plumbing and wiring for our cabin way back in the 90's. They have treated us like family for many years and its unfortunate they are having some health issues that go along with getting up in years. We use to have some great family suppers with them and our kids and their kids and grand kids, but we have missed having any the past couple years. I'm so glad we got to visit with them before leaving this year.
After leaving the Hampton's we headed on over to the Gerald and Kay Luffman where she had a big pot of chili cooking. We brought Cole slaw and Karin brought an iron skillet of corn bread and Kay made a berry cobbler with vanilla ice cream for dessert. I broke down down and had some of the warm delicious cobbler. Mechelle and her family Andy, Caleb and Kallie were there as well along with Karin and Katelyn Hearl. After eating we played a little of Oh (H)ell which is a card game while waiting for Katelyn to return with the Sequence board. We then played several games and finally with the help of Mechelle the guys were victorious for the first time this summer as she had to play with the Gerald and I. We laughed and cut up and had a great time until nearly 10:30 when we headed for the cabin. It was in the 30's as we drove in the lane to the cabin with a very bright nearly full moon hanging over the mountain.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Thursday
Well it was around 9 before we finally rolled out to start the day, yikes that bed was so warm and the temps outside were in the high 30's with a steady wind. After our quiet times I fried a couple dippy eggs and put them in a bowl of grits while Nancy did her own thing with oatmeal. It was close 10:30 before we finished eating. I headed down to the basement to start the washer then headed outside. We put a couple loads of laundry on the outside line. The sun was shining and the temps had warmed up to 45 so I set my seedling in the sun for the first time in days. They have been in the basement since Sunday and were starving for sunshine despite having them setting in the window.
It finally warmed up to 50 degrees which made it nice when the sun was out as the wind was still steady and strong. I did some more raking of pine needles then spread a sack of lime on my lower garden. I trimmed my rose bush back to the ground and covered it with dried pine needles. I've been doing a little each day as I get the yards and gardens ready for the winter.
We had a bite of lunch around 1:30 then we headed out for our daily hike to the top of the mountain. We visited with Norm for a few taking his mail in for him then headed down and visited with Joe and Jetta for a few before heading back down to the cabin. It was going on 4 PM when I decided to move the seedling back into the warmth of the basement as there is a freeze warning for our county tonight. The temperature was starting to drop rapidly.
Nancy had a large pot of spaghetti sauce simmering as we were having our old gang for the final time this year. Our neighbor Gerald got in from the Raleigh area during the afternoon so we invited him to eat and play Sequence with us as well. The supper was superb with spaghetti, salad, garlic bread and chocolate-peanut butter squares(I passed on them) but they looked good. The gal won in a raucous rubber game with lots of wild accusations. It was good to see Ray and Audine, Eddie and Kimberly and Gerald as we will not see them again this year. Gabriel had a baseball game so Jodi was unable to be here plus she is still working.They all headed out a little after 10 PM, LATER
It finally warmed up to 50 degrees which made it nice when the sun was out as the wind was still steady and strong. I did some more raking of pine needles then spread a sack of lime on my lower garden. I trimmed my rose bush back to the ground and covered it with dried pine needles. I've been doing a little each day as I get the yards and gardens ready for the winter.
We had a bite of lunch around 1:30 then we headed out for our daily hike to the top of the mountain. We visited with Norm for a few taking his mail in for him then headed down and visited with Joe and Jetta for a few before heading back down to the cabin. It was going on 4 PM when I decided to move the seedling back into the warmth of the basement as there is a freeze warning for our county tonight. The temperature was starting to drop rapidly.
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