Author Archives: Eva

About Eva

Hi, I'm Eva. Thank you for stopping by. I live in Mendota, Virginia. If you like rural life in a country village, sharing decorating and DIY ideas, gardening, local and seasonal eating, food preservation, thrifting, and anything to do with honey, we have something in common.

Honey…

We took honey from the bees last week. This was very late to be taking honey. For many reasons, we did not take it in late July/early August as most beekeepers do. It was me. My fault. I was too tired….too busy. I thought a lot about the bees as I whirred about doing everything else, but I knew they had plenty to forage for and that while the amount of honey might suffer because I wasn’t supplementing their diet with sugar water, they would most likely be fine. They were. Whew! There wasn’t much honey to take, though, as those bees had been multiplying and swarming. (Keep in mind…we only take excess honey. We make sure we leave plenty for them, and they are now being fed again.) Gerald, my brother in law and honey partner, has been a far better beekeeper than me and he got two supers from his hives whereas I only had one. These supers were dripping with honey.

This frame was from Gerald’s hive but I had honey as dark as this also. Those girls have been in the blackberries again.

Actually, that may not be blackberries at all. After we took the honey, I started reading about honey from Virginia that is very dark. It is usually either wildflower honey (which says exactly what it means) or Raw Bamboo Honey from the Japanese Knotwood plant which is an invasive weed in Virginia! Ours is possibly a combniation. No one knows but the honeybees and they are not talking! Here’s what the Japanese Knotwood plant looks like, and I believe I’ve seen it, although we have so many weeds in the country that…well who knows!

Our honey is most likely a combination of wild flowers and this weed!

However, another frame looked like this which definitely is clover honey. This came from my hive. When I lived in the ‘burbs, we had treated lawns with real grass. Now I have a sort of snobbery for that. It’s so silly. (I’m sorry ‘burb friends, but it’s true.) Our yards in the country are a mix of clover and probably…well..more weeds. Our weedy lawns are green like grass and that works fine for me and for my bees.

After we put the frames in the extractor and sling them around for a few minutes, that wonderful honey looks like this. It’s going into the first strainer in this picture.

Gerald has an electric “hot” knife made just for uncapping the honey. He runs it across the frame and uncaps it. We capture the wax and the honey in a plastic bin which we will drain to get additional honey. I think the caps look like snake skin (below). Whil we are working, I grab this “snakeskin” and chew on it. It’s just beeswax and honey. It’s fun to chew on it while we’re working.

I’m busy selling the honey this week. It’s easy to sell because it’s raw, so local and sooooo good. However, I’m thinking about next year’s bees. I’m going to set up a new hive and paint the hive. Something like this. I found this on Pinterest but I do not know who to credit. At any rate, bees, with their keen eye for color, should enjoy having a pretty colorful house.

The thing about the internet is that it shows you what others are doing, it also is a little demoralizing. When I thought about painting the beehives, I thought “wow…bet no one has done that.” Stern reminder….DRAT…everyone has done everything!!

Well, honey, that’s enough for tonight.

Honey

Decorating a Witches Hat and Stuff I Am Selling

Fall is here! For those of you who don’t know, while I work in HR and on weekends during the summer at Adventure Mendota, I also like to help out at About Face every now and then. The owner and I have been friends for a long time. I am so proud of her and the business that she has grown. I love my best girlfriends and she is one of a special few. About Face is a med spa…a very good one…and via emails, Sue (the owner) and I have been having so much fun planning a Bootox Party near Halloween. If you’re local and want to come, it’s October 26. You can message me for all the details. It is really going to be fun.

One thing we’re doing at the Bootox Party is having a contest for the best costume and the best decorated witches hat. I decided to decorate one to use as a display at the Bristol store.

It all started with a regular ol’ witches hat.

But to make it “right” for our Bootox party, I tricked it out with a red boa, ribbon and plastic spiders. I am loving this hat!!

Oh..you think you can do better, huh? Well, give it a try and come out to About Face on October 26. You might win a free Botox treatment.

So…while making the hat, Mike is up in the office working on our business plan for the My Southwest Opportunity Cup Challenge I am participating in attempting to win grant money. I’ve promised him I’ll vacuum if he’ll do this. If he finds out I’m down here making a witches hat, I’m toast.

But…I have started cleaning out and continuing what is going to be months of decrapifying before we redo our hardwood. Someone jokingly asked if I was committing suicide since I’m getting rid of so much stuff. NOT! Just lightening my step. Here’s a few things that I pulled out of one of the many stuffed hidey holes in this house and I’m going to sell.

If you are into setting a great Thanksgiving spread, you might find a place for this artichoke bowl or the eggplant bowl in the next picture. They were made in Italy and are Vietri china.

So cute, but I’m getting rid of things! I’m selling each one of these for $10 of if you buy both, they are $18 for the pair.

These lids come off…I suppose they were meant to be soup bowls. I had four. I sold two on Ebay a few years ago and for some reason, I kept two. Separation anxiety.

Here’s a couple of dishes that you set out with nuts in them or something. I’m tired of them. I never use them anymore. They are not as fine of china as the little bowls above. These little radish-like dishes are $3.00 for the set.

Do you like salt and pepper shakers? This set is $3.

Finally, this is a sculpture of a little girl. When I was a real collector of stuff, I thought I’d have children of my own and wanted a little girl. Well, that never happened. I wound up with a bunch of dogs! At any rate, this would be perfect for a little girl’s room, etc. It’s $10.

If anyone local wants any of these things, please let me know. I’m going to list them on Ebay next week.

Come See Me! I Live in a Postcard called Southwest Virginia!

This is my redemption video–I’ll tell you more about that in a minute. It’s a wonderfully done piece by Two Rivers Multimedia’s Tim Ivy and MK. I want to thank the Appalachian Spring initiative for including my “baby” called Adventure Mendota. We are at about the 9th minute. I hope you like it.

I call it a “redemption video” for those of us who have had to answer the misspoken and sometimes mean question “Why do you live in a place like that?” The answer is clear. It’s because we’re smart…and we value beauty…and we’re very, very lucky!

We live in a postcard!

Behind Door Number 1

There used to be a television show called “Let’s Make a Deal” and the contestents would guess which door to pick for a great prize or a terrible prize. Here’s my door. Door Number One. The Black Door. (I do like painting some of the doors black.)

Black Door

Nice and neat looking, right? But I am married to someone who doesn’t want to throw anything away or get rid of anything. He also can pack more crap in a tight space than a sardine canning company. So here’s my Door Number One. Ouch! I did not win a prize.

Closet is Full

This tiny “coat” closet had two 5×8 rugs rolled up, an ironing board, glasses that I’d boxed and stuck in there, a Food Saver, iron, 26 baseball hats, and scarves to outfit everyone in Mendota. Seriously. Can you imagine if someone really wanted to hang their coat in there? They’d probably have a rug fall on them.

We got the quote to have all of our hardwood refinished and it is a definite go. I’m so excited. We’re going to wait until the first of the year, but I have already decided it’s not too early to start thinking about getting rid of things that I don’t want to move out and then move back in.

These coats are going to be sold on Facebook or go to the consignment store. There is another stack of coats and scarves that I did not picture that will go to Goodwill.

See ya red coat! Asking $10 for this.

Red Coat 2

And see ya…oatmeal tweedy-like coat. Asking $8 for this.

Oatmeal Coat

And men’s scarves. I kept two out for Mike and the rest of these are scarves I’ve seldom seen him wear. If a family member is reading this and they bought him these scarves, I’m sorry. It’s just that it doesn’t make sense to keep something and not use it.

Black and white scarf

I wish I could think of something crafty to do with these scarves. I went on Pinterest for inspiration, but I wasn’t inspired. Can you think of anything? I thought about cat quilts for feral cats but every one of these says “Dry Clean Only.”

I’ll try and sell them on Facebook or Ebay. Otherwise, they are off to Goodwill. I’d rather someone cold be kept warm vs. them sitting in my closet.

There’s still a rug sitting in the closet in the picture below as we’ll be putting that down in a few weeks, so I’m giving it a pass–and I haven’t labeled the two plastic bins above. One will say “scarves” and one ill say “gloves and hats”. I learned while living in Massachusetts that the reason people can stand the weather is that they know how to dress. However, I don’t live there anymore. I haven’t for 13 years! I’m keeping a few things for the short cold spells we get, and the rest is leaving.

I moved the Food Saver to another spot. I threw away 24 of the 26 hats. I’ve got a stack for Goodwill. It feels so good to decrapify the closet! I still need to “pretty” it up a bit, but it looks so much better with just a bit of tossing, giving and selling. I left the rug because I am using it beginning in about two weeks, but it will be leaving never to return again!

Closet Cleared

Boom! Done! Feeling good!

Scott County River Road

Hi everyone! Have you ever heard of someone who received the shingles vaccine still getting the shingles? Mike had his vaccine about 5 years ago, but I believe he has the shingles. He has no blisters (yet), but his side is sensitive to the touch and hurts like…you know what. I went today to get him some medication, and on my way home, I drove along the river road from Hiltons up into the Maces Spring area. I like that drive.

It’s fall and all along the river, there is this yellow flower which I’m sure is a weed, but one man’s weed is another man’s flower and I think it’s a yellow flower.

wEEDS THAT ARE YELLOW

Oh..and I saw this. Burley tobacco. “In the day” when Burley tobacco was everywhere, it was cured out in the field for a few days and then hauled to a tobacco barn. This hanging and draping came later.

Tobacco

Some visions trigger other senses, and I can look at this picture and smell tobacco — not the tobacco that is in cigarettes, etc., but tobacco as it travels through the different processes from green leaf, to yellow wilted, to “in case” to packed. It has a strong musty smell.

And here’s what I was really looking for..you can take Park Avenue any day–just give us farm girls our barns.

Barn Quilt

Especially when they are all decked out with a quilt. This one is a 6′ x 6′ quilt square.

Barn Quilt 6 x 6

I love the blues…but why not? You know what country you’re in when you go past that Scott County line? People in Scott County love their GCHS Blue Devils.

Blue Devil Price

Thanks for riding along with me.

Reading Serafina and The Black Cloak

For those that know me well, you probably know that one of the reasons I wanted so badly to return to Southwest Virginia…Mendota, actually, was because I loved my childhood here. When we first started looking for land, I still thought we would have children or we would adopt. I was 35 and still young enough by most standards. However, it did not happen. I am okay with that now.

I wanted to have children here because I remember what it was like to play among giant mountain laurel (the wild version of rhododendrum) by a creek and string the leaves together to make a skirt, which never stayed quite right. On the small hill called “the Knob” that seemed so big, there were ravines and shadows and smells all contributing to an active imagination. My cats would hunt on “the Knob” but I was certain they were heading out each day to an alternative life where they worked, attended school and had a whole social structure similar to the world I knew.

I believe that is one of the reasons I enjoyed the Juvenile Fiction book Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty. Serafina is the cat that I wanted to be as a child.

I’m not going to spoil the book for you, but I will encourage you to read it. It’s very good.

There’s other things I like about the making of this book. It is set at Biltmore. There is a book trailer out and it has the author’s daughter dressed as Serafina.

Look at Serafina’s pretty dress. The author’s wife made it. I read about the Beatty’s. They’re wealthy. They could have asked a seamstress to make the dress, but that is not what occurred. Jennifer Beatty, Robert’s wife, made the dress at their kitchen table. I can imagine her listening to his description of how the dress looked “in his head” and the two of them and perhaps their daughters planning the dress. He talks a little about the dress on his blog which is here

Disney is promoting the book, and I would not be surprised or one bit unhappy if Serafina becomes a movie and little girls everywhere will want a Serafina doll, with her cat-like eyes, wearing a red taffeta dress–just like the one Jennifer Beatty made.

If you haven’t read this book, please do. Middle-school aged children on up to….well…their 60’s….will find it very good.

Antiquing in Church Hill, Tennessee

I took a day of vacation today, and by all accounts, I wasted the entire day. I meant to do lots of stuff around the house. I.did.nothing. We have guests staying the in the guesthouse and I did get it ready but other than that–nada. I had great intentions, but I came home from work last night and developed the worst sore throat imaginable. I just knew I had strep throat. However, this morning when I woke up with a stuffy nose, etc., I knew it was the dreaded cold! Ugh. So I didn’t feel like doing too much even after I took some cold medicine.

Mostly I watched my seven week old kittens. Many will be going to their furever homes soon, and I wanted to enjoy them just a bit more…the little gray one on the left will be going to live with my niece. The little one sleeping on the right has someone interested as well. I call him Huckleberry. He was the first one born. I rescued their mom, and she is the best mother cat. I’m tellin’ ya….people could learn from watching a mother cat. She gives them just the right mix of love and discipline.

To get Mike onboard with my plan to accomplish nothing, I suggested we go for a ride. “Where?” he asked. “Church Hill, Tennessee,” I replied. “Why?” he asked. “I dunno,” I replied. Off we went!

I actually did have something in mind. Several years ago he bought me this window at an antique mall in Church Hill and I wanted to go back. I have no idea what the name of the place is but they have lots of windows and old doors out front. (Update: I have later learned it is the Homestead.) Here is that window that he bought me back when it was cold this past winter!

And here is that window last spring…

Here is that window at Christmas…

And here is that window when I was apparently thinking about coloring in a coloring book.

Oh…I think there is a fall one. Yep…here it is.

At any rate, we all should be in agreement whether you like my artwork or not — I sure have got my $7 worth for that window!! So I wanted another one. We brought this one home. The asking price was $38 but we paid $25. I’m going to use it in my den. I’ve got plans to use it as a picture gallery. If that fails, out will come the chalkboard spray paint!

While at the antique store, I founds lots of other stuff, too, which I thought was interesting. This is an old Chlorox bottle. It was $8. I really was drawn to it, but the last thing I need is more junk.

Here was the one thing I would have bought if Mike had not been with me. It’s a Pepsi box. It was $25, but I probably could have got it for $20.

It had been used at a Pepsi Bottling plant in Marion, Virginia. When I was a little girl, I told everyone I would marry a Pepsi man so that I could drink all the Pepsi I want.

This was a good idea for my other baby, Adventure Mendota! I have some old inner tubes. We don’t use them for tubing, but we tried to once. They turned us dirty. However, to blow them up and paint them…now that’s an idea I can use!!

And…because I love them…a rotary phone. It was a Bristol, Tennessee number. I’m itching to call the number, but I won’t.

And finally, I did bring this home as well. I’m going to put it in my den. Probably near the picture gallery I’m going make. There’s a lot of gonna’s there. We’ll see when that actually will happen.

It was fun being back on my blog again. I’m going to update the look of this blog in the next months. I’m excited about that, but I’m still working through what it will look like.

A Little Organization Really Helps

Since Mike and I opened up our small seasonal business, our lives have been like drinking from a firehouse. We’re drowning! No one is complaining, but today when we had a large cancellation, it freed the day up to be a lighter day, and I decided to stay home and clean my house. My sweet neighbor has been helping me out by cleaning this summer, and when she could not do it this week and I discovered that I could, I was happy!

When everything is moving so fast, sometimes it’s helpful to control what you can control I can control this mess. At least today!

Even something as simple as napkins — we use cloth napkins, and where I used to iron them and put them away, I have just folded them and stuffed them away this summer. I realized last week that they were looking bad. Some of them were 20 years old — I’d bought them in Franklin, Tennessee in the 1980’s!! I went through them, and if there were not four napkins that matched that had no stains, they went into the rag pile. This is just one pile. Sad.

Here it is… Napkins Three

After I did this, for my every day napkins, I was left with only two sets of four and even these are showing a little wear…

Napkins Two

But after I ironed and folded them, they’ll work for a while longer. I felt good slipping this little–much lighter-basket under the counter where I keep my napkins. I’ll be buying more in the coming weeks.

Napkins Four

It feels good to be in my home today. It’s just me and River and the two cats inside, and Lilly and her five kittens right outside where I can watch them. I have a lot of plans for my house this winter. We are moving to the guest house and having our hardwood refinished here in the main house as well as touch up the paint. I’m going to use that time to rethink every piece of “stuff” in this house.

I’m trying not to buy things just for the sake of buying them. However, I have looked at this sign for over a year. It wasn’t cheap, but I like what it says. I think there are too many signs displayed in homes I see in magazines…they seem to shout for attention! Yet, I really wanted this sign…maybe I wanted some attention, too! Seriously, it speaks of who I want to be…not who I am…but who I want to be. Words to live by!

Sign

Hope you have a good day. I am going to start vacuuming! Woo Hoo!

Posting From Adventure Mendota 080715

Hi…I so miss RiverCliff Cottage, but I posted tonight on the Adventure Mendota River Blog and thought I’d just link it up here as well. For those of you who do not know, my husband and I opened up a small paddlesports outfitter featuring kayak and tube rentals. We’ve had a very good first season–far better than we’d hoped, and it’s left us grateful. And exhausted! We argue over who is the most tired. Of course, it’s me!!

We have been so blessed to be busy this summer, but I expect that after Labor Day, things will slow down, and my life will resume to normal again. Meanwhile here’s what is happening on the North Fork

Adventure Mendota’s River Blog

While I’m not going to be blogging too often until things slow down, I am going to start working with the web designer who helped me build this website and update it a bit. I’m looking forward to that.

Hope you are having a good summer!

Flash Flood in Mendota and Benhams

As I left North Bristol and approached Benhams, a man held his arm out the window and flashed his lights. I wondered what was going on.

The creeks were out in the road and water was rushing across the pavement. I drove through it, and I got to the other side, but my car moved. I was scared. More water was ahead, but this time I could see the yellow center lines so I drove through cautiously but knew I could reach the other side.

Benhams was a mess. There’s pictures all over Facebook of the water. I drove down Nordyke and halfway down encountered this…a log was in the road and Nordyke Creek was there with it.

After the log was moved, it was still too dangerous to go through. I turned around and went to my cousin’s house. Mike was able to drive up in the truck and get me. Since I drive a Prius which is low to the ground, there was no way I was going to drive through water again. Here’s the creek that was in the road.

Further down, Sherman Pippin (Bubby)and friends were working to get Barb’s old bridge (Barb is Bubby’s sister) off of Bubby’s bridge.

Whew! Sometimes the day is a challenge.