For a while, it looked like Floyd County High School might upset the heavily-favored Carrroll County Cavaliers Friday night. The Buffaloes led twice but fell behind early in the third quarter and never caught up. Carroll County won 31-22. Still, the team looked better against Carroll than they did in a pre-season scrimmage against Hidden Valley last week.

The hour was late but musicians continued to play outside the Floyd County Store as the Friday Night Jamboree wound down inside. Fiddler Michael Kovick (center) joined guitarist Bernie Coveney (left) and the Friday night regulars in the alley that runs alongside the store.

Street musicians are as much a part of the Friday night tradition in Floyd as the Jamboree itself (weather permitting). They play in alleys, along the sidewalks and in parking lots. Some play to warm up before their appearance inside the Jamboree. Others play just for fun and to jam with the regulars.

Just a little night music in a town called Floyd.

“Don’t mess up a good photograph with words,” an editor once told me. “Nature has its own eloquence.”

Sally Walker, aka Little Diva, belts it out on the stage of Oak Grove Pavilion Saturday night. I never tire of hearing this lady sing and sing she can. Her band, Little Diva and the G Strings, turned in an outstanding performance. Click here for the video.

Saturday. 5 a.m.

You stumble downstairs to the kitchen to make coffee. While the java brews, you shuttle to the bathroom near the kitchen for the usual morning business.

And this greets you.

The look needs no translation: "Buzz off, I’m trying to sleep here."

No wonder the two older cats in the house fear this little bundle of orange fur named Dr. Jekyl.

He turns up where you least expect him and isn’t too happy with the interruption.

You buy them soft, cushy cat beds at the pet store but they sleep, instead, on the cold bricks of the hearth or lie draped over the stairs in just the right place to trip you when you stumble down those stairs in the dark in search of that morning jolt of caffiene.

Or they sleep in sinks, in the dark, away from the devious plots of two older cats who seek revenge against this hellion who dared invade their space. You do your business, turn off the bathroom light and wash your hands in the kitchen sink. Some things are best left alone.

Meet Chewy (aka Chewbacca), the newest, most energetic and rambunctious member of Chateau Thompson. Part Chow, part God-knows-what else, we found her as a three-month old pup at the ASPCA in Roanoke. Amy named her before we got home and she immediately lived up to the name, chewing up everything in sight, including shoestrings, shoes, paper and wicker furniture. Every time we take her outside, Chewy heads for something edible, be it a leaf, a bug or a clump of grass (left). Nothing is beyond this dog’s voracious appetite and now, at four months, she tips the scales at six pounds plus. In her first two weeks here, Chewy has discovered certain truths to be self-evident — bees sting, carpenter ants bite and a little bundle of orange fur named Jekyl may be a kitten and half her size but can still hold his own in a fight. Toilet manners are still hit and miss (mostly miss) which is why Chewy lives on the screened-in back porch until the call of nature becomes second nature in morning, afternoon and evening walks.

FloydFest 2005 goes into the books. Sun managed to peek through the clouds Sunday to give event organizers at least part of a day of sun but attendees still had to deal with mud from two days of damp weather and rain. Then the rain returned with a fury Sunday night during Ani DeFranco’s concert. Still, those who attended reported a good time. Click here for a Flash-based Slide Show of the event.