Soakin' It Up

AT LAST!!! I'm finally enjoying my hot tub and the first time we used it, we were under a beautiful starlit night with an orange harvest moon in the eastern sky. What a wonderful way to relax and while away the aches and pains of the day. It was the most relaxing hour we spent. Plan on get ting in again tonight. Don't know why we didn't get one of these a long time ago!

Cathy's New Foot Massager!!

WELL NOW!!!! Chuck finally finished the hookup and got the spa running. Hurrraay!!! It took a lot to run the wiring but he did it. He had run 220 before for a dryer but not the GFI which is a safety needed to shut the hot tub down in case something happens to it. We can sit in the tub and enjoy the most beautiful view.

Now its a matter of waiting until the temp is up to 100 to 102 degrees. Last I checked it was 88 degrees. When we go to Crossville on Monday will see if there is a place that sells pools and hot tub supplies. Otherwise will get a start-up kit at the hot tub place in Cookville on Thursday. Chuck still has to put the railing back up but we need to get a ladder. Can't get to it from the inside since the hot tub is so close. It may not have been the ideal place to set the hot tub.

We had some cool weather last night down to about 52 degrees but it was beautiful today nice breeze blowing and sun shining I doubt it made it to 80 degrees. Its already cooling down out there. I do not miss the hot FL climate!. Some of the trees are starting to change colors I can't wait to see the leaves all turn. Its been to many years since I have seen the leaves change. And the leaves are starting to fall but that could be due to the summer drought. Won't be long now until its time to put the electric blanket on the bed. I know that this house is going to be a lot warmer than the 2 rental houses that we were in as it seems to be well insulated. Doesn't have large windows or a lot of windows.

Next project to get done before winter is to build a shelter for our old horse. Got all the material for the framing but have to go on Tuesday to get the metal roofing and the ruff cut lumber at the saw mill in KY. Its much cheaper to buy the lumber from a saw mill if you don't need finished lumber and the sales tax is only 6% there here its 9.5 %.

Chuck just put a new chandelier in the dining room. Found a really pretty one at this discount store in Jamestown. Its where we buy other lumber and stuff that we need. I guess this store gets all the discontinued item from the other stores that they have and sell the stuff at a discount. I found lotz of stuff that I would like to get for the house later on. I am a bargain hunter at heart and always looking for the best deal.

All the cats are well now just have the last one on medication for a couple of more days. Our 4 house cats never got sick just the 4 stray cats. Guess their immune system isn't good.

Well I am going to check and see if the water is warm enough in the hot tub and soak and relax for awhile.

Fall is Here

Well its suppose to be Fall and I am still waiting for the cooler weater. Its been in the low 90's the last couple of days and is suppose to cool to the low 80's starting tomorrow. Humidity is low to like about 26%. I think it is suppose to rain on Thursday an we sure need it. Did get a little shower the other night.

Chuck came home 2 days in a row covered in grease (Ugh!) after helping the neighbor fix his bull dozer. Its been leaking hyrolic fluid for 2 years so Joe just keeps putting the fluid in. He's a big man and can't get down and get under the dozer to see whats wrong. So Chuck did and found the leak. All it was, was an .89 bolt. So Chuck went over today and got the bolt on it and its fixed. Joe tried to pay Chuck, but Chuck reminded Joe that he came over and mowed the 3 acre field for us. I guess this is called bartering. Works for us.

We are heading to town to buy the wire for the hot tub and GFI and materials to build the horse a shelter before winter. We will have to drive over the other side of the mountain to get the steel for the roof. Want to get this done before the cold weather sets in. Most of the locals leave their horses out but Jim is 35 years old with an arthritis problem so we try to baby him. We have had him since about 1993 so he is a member of the family. We have him out in the yard now to munch on the grass. He seems to get something out of it because he is gaining weight. He was losing weight running up and down the fence line chasing the female horse in the field next to ours. So the neighbor moved the horse. Guess he noticed Jim was losing weight.

Well I'm off to the big city! Ha!

COMING SOON TO OUR HOUSE!

We got a call last week about setting up for the delivery of our Hot Tub. Roadway delivered it this afternoon. When we ordered it thru the Army/Airforce Exchange online they said that it could only be delivered to the end of our driveway or garage. But the driver had a Penske truck with a lift and said that it would be easier to back up to the deck and slid it off onto the deck. Chuck had already taken the railing off and was working on redoing it. We couldn't believe that the driver would do this. He said that what "good ole boys" do. Here we thought that we would have to wait for Brian to bring his skid loader over to do this. Now all Chuck has to do is run the 220 electric and the GFI in the breaker box and we just need to get the chemicals for it and fill it with water. Can't wait! The weather is getting cooler in the evenings to enjoy the hot tub.

Sunday Chuck talked me into going arrow hunting with him. Little did I know that we would walk up and down hills and walk about 2.5 miles! To much for the first time out walking for over a month! I will have to take pictures the next time we go so everyone can see how steep the hills are here. The last hill we walked up was tuff and I kept watching for the big black bull! I had to take a hot bath when we got home as my calfs and knee's were really hurting. Now I can just jump in the hot tub and really relax afterwards. We finally did something for ourselves instead of for the kids!

Tomorrow the neighbor is coming over with his tractor to mow Jim's field. It really is high and will look better plus next year he will have a lot of good grass and clover to eat. We still soak alflaf cubes for him and will increase the amount in winter. Its hard to keep the weight on such an old horse but he is doing better since they moved they female horse to another field. Jim has worn a path all along the fence line walking back and forth chasing after her!

Well I want to get back to crocheting the kitty pattern baby afgan. Next week I plan to buy some flannel material and make a bunch of receiving blankets. Walmart has a nice selection of flannel at $1 a yard in pretty prints and pastels. The Grandbaby (suppose to be a girl) is due Oct. 28th so I don't have a lot of time left. I have already made her 2 afgans and a quilt. Love sewing for little girls. Glad that I kept all my patterns from making clothes for the other 2 grandaughters. The like me to make their Halloween custumes to. Last year Kaylee was a Geisha girl. I even found her a wig at Target. She looked so cute.

Mountain Walk

The weather is absolutely beautiful here. Is such a relief to get rid of that hot weather. It was only in the 40's last night and today I opened the windows. I doubt that we will have to use the airconditioner anymore till next summer.

We took off out back down the mountain looking for arrowheads today. Chuck knows better what to look for than I do. We had some heavy rain last week so he thought that he might be able to find some arrowheads. No luck. Its really tuff walking on the hills some are pretty steep. We followed a logging road thru the woods all the way around and came back on another road. Our neighbor across the way owns acres and acres and said we could go walking on his property. His brother has his cows on the property and I wasn't to crazy about running into the black bull. Chuck tells me afterwood that the bull came after him! All we saw were the cows and calfs. My legs are killing me from climbing the hills I have arthritis in one knee and it really gives me a fit. I think the knee hurt worse going down hill then up hill though. Chuck took some pictures of the view and one of this old 1950's school bus that they used in this area before the school buses came out this way. Its been there so long that a tree has grown up thru it. The views of the surrounding area were so beautifull we can see clear into KY on a clear day. When its not hot we have a much nicer view. I think the leaves are starting to change already to I found some beautifull red maple leaf. Its been so many years since I have seen the change of seasons it will be nice.

Well its about time to fill the butane tank for our winter heat. We ordered ours already while the price is low. Since we are a new customer we get the first 400 gal at $1.59 a gallon and the rest at $1.79 a gallon. Later it will be $2.09 a gallon. Heating bills can get quite expensive but I think this house is well insulated. The last 2 houses that we rented were not very well insulated. I guess it could be worse electric heat is probably much more. Our highest electric bill since we moved in was last month when we had the 100+ degrees and it was $112. Now in FL it probably would have been over $250. I don't miss the high electric bills.

Well its time to get the foot fixer out and soak my sore feet!

Morning Fog

This photo was taken thisat 0700 this morn off our back porch. The temp was around 54 and the ground fog was just starting to lift.

Chuck took this picture this morning. The flog was really beautiful. He got up early to go to work and his boss called and said that he decided not to work today but to go horsebackriding. Hopefully, Chuck will work tomorrow.

What beautiful weather we are having. Its been in the high 50's at night and loe 80's during the day. We got more badly needed rain yesterday. My kind of weather! Only 29% humidity. The view is much clearer of the mountains now that its not hot. Can't wait to see what the fall view will look like. We can see all the way to Ky from our back porch. I love my mountain home! Couldn't ask for a better place to live.

Haven't seen any deer out back in awhile I guess its been to hot for them. We should start seeing them more. There is a racoon that comes around just as the sun is setting and he goes over and eats any horse food that Jim drops. He used to come up on the porch and eat the cat food we left for the stray cats. Chuck has a hummingbird feeder just off the deck we keep it filled with sugar water for them. Its funny to see them fight over the feeder. Ther must be 8-10 of them. Haven't seen many lately so they may have started migrating south for the winter.

Had to put the older cats out on the porch. The 2 kittens are sick with an upper respiratory. I hope none of the other caught it. First Smokie got it we took her to the vet yesterday they gace her a shot and antibiotic to take. Now her litter mate is sick so they told us to give her the medication to. They are sneezing and eyes and nose watering. Hope they get well soon. The older cats think that they are being punished! Smile!

Talked to the oldest daughter last week and she has seen the Oncologist and the cancer is in the first stage. I told her to the sooner the better she start treatment. She turns 37 the 14th and said "What a birthday present!"

Well I want to get back to this baby afgan that I am crocheting for the younger daughter. I am having a problem with the pattern so I will have to work on it till I get it right. Baby is due the end of Oct. suppose to be a girl according to the sonogram.

Marked Bolders

These are marks that I found on some bolders overlooking a creekbed. At first I thought they might be cable marks from some of the logging that was done in this area. But when I talked with Joe, the one who has done all the logging he said the marks weren't from logging. I can assume they were man made and since there were so many of them, I would guess that since these bolders are soft like sandstone, maybe the marks were made from scraping spear shafts back and forth to clean and shape them. They're all uniform in size. Who knows?

My Latest Finds

These are some of the projectile points that I have found on and around our property. They vary from arrow heads used to hunt birds and small game to the larger knife and broken hatchet head (upper right corner). The small item 2nd from the top on the right hand side is a shaper that was used to smooth the shafts of arrows. This is one of my favorite past time hobbies. I've learned a lot about early man's history (5000-8000BC). Very few if any of these points date from our more modern indians of 200 years ago.

Trip to Cookville

We drove to Cookville today. Chuck goes to the blood bank and donates platelets for cancer patients. I think they may also use them for Aides patients as well. When he donated in FL if you had someone who needed platelets, you could donate in their name. Just had to give the blood bank their name and what facility they were receiving treatment at. I think he did this for 2 people we knew. The patient doesn't get charged for the platelets this way. This place Chuck donates to in Cookville doesn't do this but said that they would send her a check for whatever the normal charge is to the person. Will see how that works if lisa needs platelets.

I went to Penneys to get my haircut while Chuck was donating then walked around and checked out the sales. Bougt 2 baby outfits and 2 baby t-shirts. In addition to the clearance price I had a coupon for an extra 15% off so only paid $6 for all 4 pieces! Wish that had more but I think last weekend was their big clearance sale. We also stopped at Sams and bought a few things thats our closest Sams.

Chuck and I were talking about Lisa today and its ovarian cancer that they think she has not breast cancer as I thought. I just hope that they can get it in time. We are waiting to hear back from her as to what is going on.

Shopping in KY

Yesterday we took a shopping trip to KY. We are only about 12 miles or so from the state line. Its a real pretty drive are mountain 2 lane back roads. We went to the Walmart Supercenter in Monticello. Our friends said that the sales tax is lower there and it is, 6% compared to our 9.5%. We also didn't have to pay sales tax on food as we do here. Its 8.5% state and 1% county tax. That ads up when you buy a months worth of groceries. The prices weren't any cheaper but the selection compared to our Walmart Supercenter that we shop at in Jamestown, is better in KY. While there we got the oil change done on the truck and saved a little on what we would normally pay in sales tax. KY is really rural and not much popuation until we got to Monticello. We enjoyed the 45 minute ride anyway and I would like to do this again. The had a Kroger grocery store nearby that is my favorite store. Their bakery stuff is almost as good as Publix. I like their fresh bread and rolls you brown it for10 minutes in the oven. The french bread and sour dough bread is really good. I want to try the 5 grain bread when I go there on Monday to Crossville. The nearest Kroger is an hour and 15 minutes away. We like to go to the day old bakery when we go and I like to go to Big Lots and Krogers. There is also a winery in Crossville. We occassionally buy a bottle or two when its in the budget.

Chuck has finished re-inforcing the deck where we will put the Hot Tub. We should get it in about 2 weeks or so. Chuck is going to offer the delivery guy $50 and see if he would put it up on the deck with the fork lift. I doubt that they will do it as it says they deliver to the beginning of your driveway or put in your garage. The next project is building the horse a shelter before winter gets here.

This weekend Chuck refinished our oak coffee table that got wet on the way up here from FL in Janurary. We used the horse trailer to transport about half our furniture and a bunch of boxes and wouldn't you know that it would rain! The upper sides of the trailer are open for ventilation. Anyway it looks as good as new. He stained the folding door we bought for our bathroom. I don't know why they didn't put a door on the master bathroom. You have to shut the bedroom door if you want privacy. We just used wood closet bifold doors and Chuck put a handle on both sides of the door. It works.

No more 100 degree's temps but its been a little more humid and in the mid to upper 90's. We did have it go down to 59 one night but usually its in the low 60's. I am ready for fall. Don't now how the allergies will be here as we have ragweed in the pasture. So I will see if I am allergic to it.

Got some bad news concerning our oldest daughter. They think she may breast cancer. She will be 37 this month. Waiting to hear how her visit to the oncologist goes as to how bad it is. I keep hoping that its just a cyst but it doesn't sound to hopefull. She has no medical insurance so the hospitol told her to apply for financial assistance with her medical bills. Glad they have some help. She lives in Orlando, FL. We need some prayers for Lisa.