Better late than never!

Here we are heading into another weekend and I am just writing about LAST weekend.

Oh well, better late than never!

Sort of my mantra. Better late than never. For me I guess it means that even though I may not say it today, or do it today, or think it today, I will eventually and even later is better than not saying or doing or thinking at all. So many times we let things get past us and we don't do or say something about it because we think too much time has passed. Little things, like someone drops off a gift or remembrance, doesn't have to be big, maybe just a home-grown tomato from the garden, and we don't see the gift-giver for several days, or weeks, and we keep forgetting to call or drop them a note until maybe days, or weeks, or even months have passed and we feel it has been too long to say ANYTHING so we say NOTHING. There is NO statute of limitations for saying thank you or how much you appreciated the gesture, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem to others. It meant something to you so you MUST say something. That keeps us human and in touch with each other. It also lets the giver know you received the token and that it was appreciated. No matter how far down the road. It's never too late. It's better than never.

Last weekend was the first weekend we had been at Bear Bottom by ourselves for the weekend since early June. Actually we haven't even been up hear at all since the end of June if you don't count a brief stopover of just a couple hours to check on the place on Sunday, July 5th. We missed it. A lot! We got in Friday night in time to enjoy the last rays of sun coming over the mountain. I think that's our favorite time of the day. Late in the evening just before sundown. Better late than never!

Saturday morning was wonderful. Made breakfast of sausage, biscuits and jelly and coffe. What we had in the house. Finally decided to head into town for some light groceries and to check out the Mountain Heritage Fair we had heard was going on at Crouse Park. We had never been to Crouse Park although we understand someone is down there playing music just about every weekend. Oh well, better late than never!

On our way into town we stopped at a little antique shop we have not been able to catch open since we've been coming up here before Thanksgiving of last year. The nice lady said she has a regular job during the week and only opens for a few hours on the weekends. That explains why we never see her open. Timing. Better late than never. We found an old chest of drawers for a reasonable price and told her we would be back to purchase it after running some errands in town. It will be perfect in our guest bedroom so finally our friends won't have to live out of a suitcase all weekend when they visit. Oh well, better late than never!

On to downtown Sparta. We visited a great gallery on Main Street with all local artist and the Books N Friends Used Book Store store next door. Then we had lunch next door at the Sparta Restaurant. Double cheeseburger special for me and the Knockwurst special for Susan. Tasty lunch even though it was nearly 2pm. Oh well, better late than never!

After lunch and a rest we drove over to Crouse Park and found a place to park the car near the vendors. No plans to buy anything but you never know what you'll find when you have craftspeople peddling their wares. We enjoyed walking among the booths and talking to the vendors about their crafts and how things were made and where they were from. Potter from Salisbury, woodworker from Mt. Airy (we bought one of his shelves), rock-hounds from Virginia who had beautiful polished stones from all over the world (Susan loves jewelry so of course I bought her one), wine vineyard (Chateau Laurinda Vineyard located northwest of town where we have not visited but plan to take some friends on their next visit), and a local lady who makes laser cut signs from sheet steel (I got her card and really want a sign for our yard swing welcoming our guests) among others. Everyone was so friendly and interesting. We'll definitely be back to Crouse Park for more music and if we weren't in a rush to get back to the antique store to purchase our earlier find before she closed at 5 we would have stayed a while longer. If we had only gotten there a little earlier. Oh well, better late than never!

We shopped for our meager groceries and still made it to the antique shop before she closed. Paid for and loaded our chest in the car and headed home. We had invited our mountain neighbors, David and Laura Lee to join us for dinner at 6:30. We sometimes go out and sometimes eat in but always enjoy their company. They've had a place here for many years and always have great stories to tell and knowlege of the community that us "newcomers" are hungry for. I did some pre-work on dinner (cooked the potatoes and made the salad) before they arrived so we could visit. We sat on the front porch sipping our drinks of iced tea or wine and sharing pictures of Emrick, our new grandson, and just enjoying the conversation of good friends and the evening air. When I looked at the time we had spent nearly an hour visiting and I still needed to grill the steaks and corn. I'm sure they must be starving. Oh well, better late than never.

We finally sat down to a great meal around 8 and kept waiting for the dinner show. We usually see deer or turkey or something wild in the field in front of our porch but nothing ever materialized. I guess they had the night off. It was a pleasant evening nonetheless and after dessert of peach cobbler topped with peach ice cream (both store bought I must confess) our guests decided to call it a night. Before leaving I "settled up" with David.

I don't think I've mentioned in these posts that David is not only our neighbor but we lovingly refer to him as our "yard man" as well. That's how he introduced himself to us the first time we met him on his mower when we first looked at the property. He has this cool heavy-duty mower which he uses to cut acres and acres of grass for himself, for us and for others. Sometimes as just the neighborly thing to do expecting no compensation in return. We asked him when we moved in about him continuing to cut our grass for us (for remuneration of course) when summer came and he agreed. I think he may have even offered first. It's a very loose arrangement wherein we only pay for the fuel he uses and I sometimes feel guilty about the small amount we are supposed to pay him. The deal is based on handshakes and good neighbor rules. Be kind and it comes back to you. I helped him re-build a porch, he bought us a chicken at the VFW BBQ, and so on. Back and forth. Good neighbors. Well we haven't paid a dime all summer and I was getting antsy about it wanting to be a good neighbor. I know he wasn't concerned. He told us early on how much he loves to mow. He gets to commune with nature, see animals and birds and just be out and about. We finally made our first payment so we are now almost back to even. I couldn't have gone out to dinner on what I paid him. Then he dropped the bombshell on me. Deisel has gone up so be prepared for the increase next time. The increase is about a penny a gallon. He estimates it may take just a few gallons to cut our grass every couple of weeks so my increase amounts to about six cents a month. I hope I can stand it. Maybe at this rate I'll get him paid for the last half of the summer by Christmas. At least I finally got him paid for the first half.

Oh well, better late than never!