So much has happened since my last post in May. Cathy started her in-home physical therapy and has shown remarkable progress. Her therapist, Craig, seems to be amazed that we are so dedicated to getting her back to normal by doing the exercises religiously, even when he isn't here. Of course there's pain but there always is when you're reconditioning repaired tissue. At any rate, she's up and around so much better than before surgery and is really trucking on. I wouldn't be surprised if she starts washing her own hair in a week or so.
As usual, with this season of the year, canning is high on the list. However, firstly I went out and picked a few gallon of blackberries for the freezer and took a gallon to Cathy's orthopedic doctor's receptionists. They seemed quite pleased to get them and, being country girls, they knew what to do with them as well. Next we put away a bushel of North Carolina peaches and expect to get some more for canning. We eat of lot of peaches in the winter, especially with our granola yogurt breakfasts. Then we got about a quarter bushel of rattlesnake beans from our neighbors, Joe and Jan, and canned them. Joe also brought down about a half bushel of corn and a Cushaw squash. that big thing I'm holding. It weighed 16 and a half pounds. Basically they treat them like a water melon or garden squash. You can eat it raw, including the seeds, bake or fry it, make it into bread or you can use it just like a pumpkin and make a pie. Ain't never had one but we're gonna try it.
You probably noticed another bushel and half or sweet corn in the swing as well. It has all been canned. Now were working on canning the tomatoes for salsa, sauce and whole tomatoes. Of course Joe brought lots of cucumbers, which were immediately turned into pickles, miraculously overnight. We've gotten a half bushel of green beans to can, along with more tomatoes and beets. It's interesting that beets are kinda hard to find around here. Guess no one really likes them but we sure do, whether they're just cooked or pickled. Thus far we've canned about 30-40 quarts of produce, which will save a lot of money in the winter. This way we wont have to go to Walmart and get $50 worth of vegetables for $80. We'll have our own and we'll know who raised them and where and what they have in them.....
Kristy and the grand kids made their annual trek up from Florida and spent almost 2 weeks before heading back. Hunter, Kristy's youngest and only boy, was really demonstrating what the terrible two's is like. Kristy says she can't take her eye off him for a second and, NOW, I understand what she means. He's always exploring and I guess that's what boys do until it gets them into trouble. I took him for a walk up the mountain road and that walk, combined with his morning activities, resulted in an early nap.
He sleeps like I do - impervious to all around him. Of course, you can't come to visit grandpa without going arrowhead hunting and this time was no exception. I took Kristy and Lilly down to the old logging road after a heavy rain. This was the logging road that the bulldozer left a few weeks back that we were hunting on.
Much to Kristy's chagrin, Lilly found her first arrowhead and it was really nice. Kristy has hunted every time she comes up but has yet to find a whole one. Not to be outdone -
I found a point that I was able to classify as Agate Basin from 10,500-8,000 years ago. I wasn't able to fully identify Lilly's point because there are so many in this area that look similar, however, her material was a red or deep rust color which I have not seen from this area. And what would a visit to Gpa's be without a few trips out on Dale Hollow Lake.
At this point we're just leaving the marina transiting though the no-wake zone but Hunter is all about the buttons and switches.
Even after we reached our swimming hole, he was still trying to get it started. Gotta admit, he persistent. Our friend Bob and his grandson joined us in Bob's pontoon and tied up alongside for an afternoon of cool adventure.
Things have kinda settled down for now but in a couple of weeks, actually next week the 30th, our oldest daughter, Lisa and her son, Channing will be visiting for 10 days. We haven't seen them since 2009 - so Channing will have grown a lot since then.
Cathy wanted some roses for the front of the house so we picked up some Knock-out roses when we were in Lowes a few weeks ago.
Surprisingly, they're thriving and they really look good right next to the Azalea's. Wonder which will overtake the other first - my money is on the Azalea's. Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Maybe when things return to a normal pace, I'll finally be able to blog regularly.
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