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.

Mendota Memories…Old Pictures

I found a few old pictures the other day…all of these people or places are tied to Mendota, Virginia. Can you guess who any of them are? Naturally, some are of me but not all. If you wish, leave a comment and guess on some of them. I’ll number them so you can identify who you think Number 1 or Number 2 is.

Here we go….

Picture #1…here’s a hint…her dress was orange and white stripes. Her mother made that dress.

Picture #2…she’s related to Picture #1, but she’s not a sister.

Picture #3…Check out the rollers of this pretty lady sitting on the steps of the Mendota Baptist Church. Who is she?

Picture #4….Here’s a hint…the same Mother who lovingly made the orange and stripe dress in Picture #1 made this sweet little shirtwaist dress. That mother had little money but her girls always were well dressed.

Picture #5…the girl in Picture #1 is a little older here. Where was this picture taken? How has the landscape changed?

Picture #6…this is the rooftop of a little house in Mendota. Where is that house?

Picture #7…This one is a hard one as I have not seen him for years. He is the same age as the girl in Picture #1.

Picture #8…Here’s the girl in Picture #1 with one of her lifetime friends (people we never met…we just always knew). Who is the boy and where was the picture made? Here’s a little hint. They are leaning against Kinnith Riner’s red Charger car. Where was the picture made? The landscape has changed since this picture was taken.

Picture #9…Oh this is just too bad. A pin-up girl in Mendota.

Picture #10…This sweet lady still lives here on Appaloosa.

Picture #11…Look at that sweet dress. It was probably sewn for this little girl the night before her picture was made. Her mother had such talent with taking very little and making it special.

Picture #12: Here a hint. “Blue.”

Picture #13…This sweet little girl didn’t live in Mendota but lived in nearby Rich Valley. She liked to sing.

Picture #14…This handsome fella lives on Barn Rock. Who is he?

Picture #15…I don’t know if any of this little girl’s family is on the web to see this picture. Do you know who she is? She’s a Nurse Practitioner today.

Picture #16…She got on the bus up above where Carson and Vicky Roark live today? Do you know her?

Picture #17…Her mother cut her hair, and this was her very favorite red cordurouy jumper. She loved that jumper. Her mother made it and the blouse with the peter pan collar witih lace.

Picture #18…She related to the girl in Picture #1 but is not her sister.

Picture #19…Finally, here’s another…who are the three in the picture?

Sharing RC With a Friend

Have you ever had one of those days…

When a flower would make things just so much better?

But you live 17 miles from a grocery store…and besides your husband already brought you flowers this week. Perhaps your quota has been met…is there ever a quota for things like this? I don’t know!

And then…you realize that those flowers that are on the table..can just be rearranged a bit, so that if just one of those flowers left its friends on the table…

And suppose that it decided to sit in the living room beside you…

And just maybe you’ll share your prized RC Cola with that flower friend..

Well, things just got a little better.

Just Flowers Today

You know what is one fun thing about blogging? When I read back on things…I forget that I might have had a bad day and just didn’t write about it. It all looks good. Happy Happy Happy…just like Duck Dynasty. We swing both ways in my house — both Downton Abbey (Oh Poor Mary) and Duck Dynasty.

Not every day is great for me but many are. Yesterday was a good day.

I had a good day at work at my part-time job at About Face. I worked in Abingdon yesterday, and it’s not as face-paced as our Bristol location so it’s easier to get to know the clients. It’s fun to see people leaving with their plans to look and feel better or to see the results of their efforts and our products. So, that was a good thing.

However, I was ready to leave about 6:50 pm. I called Mike so he could estimate when I’d be home. Calling from a cell phone as I approach my home gets dicey — no signal. Anyway, when I spoke with him, more good news. He said, “do you remember what you liked to eat in New England?” Well, I drew a duh. But the long and the short of this is that I like New England style creamy white clam chowder, and he had some Legal Seafood Clam Chowder for my dinner. I was so happy!! True New Englanders make fun of Legal Seafood, but not me. I live in Mendota — not exactly the seafood capital of the south. Maybe a small mouth bass once in a while, but…

He had the clam chowder on the table as I walked throughthe door. And flowers! Today, I love this man!

I ate the chowder. The bowl was clean but I’m still enjoying the flowers.

Apparently, Mike is not holding onto his cash as well as me. He bought these flowers…they were just $20 at Sam’s Club. A bargain, but, still, I would have thought “I’ll spray paint some sticks and just use them with a few branches from a shrub.” I’m glad he didn’t think like me. I really like the bright color of these flowers on this cold winter’s day.

I breathed in their crisp smell…fresh! Actually probably full of pesticides from a foreign country picked by underage children, but hey…these were a surprise and I’m enjoying them. How perfect is a flower?

Another picture..they are really brightening my kitchen table. Look at that scrubbed table. I like the way the scrubbed pine table and the Mason jar with flowers look. I like that Did I say that twice?

Can you tell who arranged the flowers? Just dropped then in the jar. There’s yellow on one side and purple on the other.

Wormy Chestnut Entertainment Console

I went down to the Luckie Dog Woodshop today to see how my entertainment console table was progressing.I was down there last week and found this. It was the top. That was all that was there. What is this about????

But I think things have turned around. Here’s what I found today. It’s a little hard to figure out since the table is upside down. The legs are up in the air. Basically, there will be a shelf area for the Wii game, Direct tv console and DVD player. Then there will be another shelf where I’ll put a basket or two or some magazines.

This picture shows the barn siding that is on the sides. While the table will have a finish on it, the barn siding will remain rough.

Here’s the rough barn siding for the opposite side of the table…

These boards will be on the back of the table. While one side of the boards will face the wall, the other side will be visible. I’ll make sure the baskets or whatever I put on the bottom shelf leave space for the eye to see the barnsiding in the back of the table.

This should be done next week. This should inspire me to clean the den and get ready for the new arrival!

Making the Money Stretch – Homemade Cookie Dough

Have you ever heard of Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace financial management programs? I haven’t taken a class, but I’ve read about the process and like what I’ve read. For Mike and me, it has never been about debt. It’s been about spending–so I developed my own little financial peace plan for us. We each get a certain amount of dollars per week, and when we are out of those dollars, we are done. So far, it’s working fairly well. Of course, it’s just week two.

Since my bucket of dollars has to buy most of the groceries, I’m trying to be careful and creative with our meals. I don’t want to just throw money away, and since most things that are “pre-made” are more expensive–and not as healthy as made from scratch–I’m trying to make a few more things at home.

I decided to make frozen cookie dough so we could easily have homemade cookies. Here’s how I made it. I’ll put the recipe at the end of the post along with the place I found it on the internet.

I assembled all of the ingredients for a chocolate chip cookie dough recipe. Usually my chocolate chip cookies are flat, so I thought this one would be better since it has oatmeal. The recipe called for peanut butter which was a surprise to me.

It actually had 1/3 cup of peanut butter, and I was dreading trying to get the measuring cup clean. Peanut butter likes to hug little crevices in dishes. Fortunately, I had some help. Warning…if you don’t have pets living in the house and you don’t let them lick your plates, you won’t be impressed.

Look what a great job Luckie did! Just one tiny bit of peanut butter left, and I’ll bet my new Bosch dishwasher will finish that off. Did I tell you that the new dishwasher is up and working? So grateful!

Here’s another special ingredient in my cookie dough. Eggs from just down the road at Margie’s “Camp Cluck.” Those ladies know how to lay some pretty Mendota eggs…free ranged so they are not only pretty, they are good for you.

So I assembled all of the ingredients and made them into balls and placed them on cookies trays loosely lined with wax paper. Then, I sat them in the freezer for about three hours.

Tonight, I took them out of the freezer and just dropped them into a gallon freezer bag and stash them back in the freezer. They are there when you have a sweet craving.

This should be followed by cleanup if your kitchen looks similar to mine…see that new dishwasher?? Love.

But I just let mine wait for a while and took a nap!

Here’s the recipe from a really nice site called Money Saving Mom. The specific link to the recipe is here.

Freezer-Friendly Chocloate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup shortening or butter (softened)
1/3 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup brown sugar (or raw sugar)
3/4 cup sugar (or raw sugar)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (I ended up using white because it was what I had)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sale
2 cups oats (rolled or quick oats)
1 12-oz. package of chocolate chips

Combine first six ingredients. Add flour, baking soda, salt, and oats. Mix well. Add chocolate chips. Roll into balls.

To freeze: Place cookie balls on a cookie sheet and freeze for up to two hours. Remove from cookie sheet and place in an airtight freezer bag. Note — I lined the cookie sheet with wax paper which was really helpful since I didn’t have to bother washing the cookie sheet! Yeah!

To bake: Pull out the desired number of balls and place on a greased cookie sheet for 30-45 minutes to thaw. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes or until done.

Mendota Cemetery Quilt Progress Report

Hi! I have not been on the RiverCliff Cottage blog for a few days. I couldn’t find my camera cord! Tonight, I found it in the car, and I was so happy! Grabbed it and…here I am!

On Wednesdays, a group of ladies meet in the afternoon at the Mendota Community Center. It really should be Hamilton School because our Mendota children that attend public school shouldn’t be put on a schoolbus in the dark and returned home in the dark, but there are others that must answer to that poorly made, badly thought out, disgusting and selfish decision. Can you guess my opinion on this?

Anyway, back to the quilt. Do you remember the name of it? I’ll Fly Away. We sing this at church. Some glad morning when this life is over, I’ll fly away. To a home on God’s celestial shore, I’ll fly away. I’ll fly away, O Glory, I’ll fly away. In the morning…

Months ago I posted about a trip to get the fabric. Here’s the post, but here’s a picture of the fabric that was selected.

There’s been steady work on the quilt since that day, and I stopped in and pinned eight squares and checked on the progress.

Here’s what the quilt currently looks like…there’s been a lot of cutting going on. In my mind’s eye, I see all of the ladies jumping up on the table singing.. “There’s a Whole Lotta Cuttin’ Goin’ on!” Jerry Lee Lewis on the piano, the Mendota ladies singing into their scissor mics.

Check out those little squares that have been pieced together.

Here’s a test. What do these squares have in common? Scroll down for the answer.

The answer is that the blues always face the upper lefthand corner! Did you notice that? That is one of the things I learned Wednesday. Here’s some more squares. The ladies who are leading this quilt project have a firm vision of what the completed I’ll Fly Away quilt looks like.

Here’s Margie…sewing up a storm. Yep…she’d definitely be up on the table singing.

Mendota hands working at putting pieces together. I love this.

And…more Mendota hands sewing away on this vintage Singer.

This quilt will be “coming out” on Friday, April 26, when Dale Jett & Hello Stranger return to Mendota for the second annual Mendota Cemetery Benefit.

Wormy Chestnut Table

I went down to the Luckie Dog Woodshop to see what is going on today. Mike loves his shop. I didn’t take a picture of the outside today, but here’s one from some time back.

And obviously this one was taken when it was warm, but I like it. After the building was a few years old, he added some cedar shutters and window boxes. Whatever flowers I put in these window boxes do so well. I’m enjoying looking at them right now when it is going to be in the “teens” tonight.

I went down to check on my entertainment console table which is supposed to be in progress. MIA. Nowhere to be seen. Hmmm….but I did see a table that Mike has made for our friends, Mark and Vickie Carter. Mark had the wood in Mike’s shop for a future table of his own..maybe a coffee table…and then he got married, and the table changed to what it is today. I really like it.

It’s got wormy chestnut on top….it’s still rough in this picture as it hasn’t received it’s semi-final sanding. I kind of like it as it is!

In the next picture, some unfinished barn siding (also wormy chestnut) on the apron. I believe this barn siding is from Hiltons, Virginia. Mark and Vickie will be eating with history!

The legs are a dark walnut from some wood that Mark had from his dad, Jack Carter, of Hiltons.

Mark and Vickie are putting tall ladderback chairs with it. Some of them…maybe all of them…are painted black.

Mike loves chestnut wood. I bought him a book called “The American Chestnut: The Birth, Death and Rebirth of a Perfect Tree.” He read it cover it cover.

And maybe someday soon I’ll have an entertainment console made that looks similar to the table!!

Valentine Gone Wrong

My True Love (Lowe’s) and I are on the outs, so Valentine’s Day is bleak. Sad. It’s not another person…it’s this…

My dishwasher has not been working since early December. I have an extended warranty on it through Lowe’s. The first week it was broke, Mike (another one that I’m on the outs with) did not call in the repair for an entire week. I could have done it but he said he would do it; but he didn’t do it! The repair call finally was made…the visit was jupuxed around due to weather…the visit was made…the dishwasher acted like it might work…(it didn’t). This was followed by another visit…and another visit. Finally, Lowe’s said they’d replace the unit, but that’s going pretty slow, too. It’s still not here. I’m so annoyed.

I will never take a dishwasher for granted again. I forget to use gloves and my hands are so much dryer. Polish doesn’t stay on my nails.

One time…not this time…but on another dishwasher, I had a repair issue. It had a horrible grinding sound. The repairman came out and found a large porkchop bone in the dishwasher…stuck where we did not see it. I was mortified. So there’s room for a reconcilation with my True Love at some point. We all make mistakes.

It’s just a gray day..in fact I woke up staring at a little gray face.

Why don’t people sleep like cats?

Please Help Me!

Next Wednesday I am off and I’m taking my camera with me to see (and maybe help a little) the progress of the Mendota Cemetery Quilt. I’ve heard it called “stunning.”

Quilting fills so many roles in a rural life. It’s a necessity, an art, a magnificant gift, a frusteration, and a great way to raise money. Everyone could use a good quilt, and most everyone can spare a dollar for a chance on a quilt.

In just a few weeks, this sweet quilt will find its way home with someone. It was quilted by Ruby Smith. Ruby is 96. She was my mother’s dearest friend. I “sharpened” this image. Look closely. Tiny, perfect stitches by a hand that has known 96 years on this earth.

All of the proceeds will benefit the Goodson Kinderhook Volunteer Fire Department. No matter how you vote, who your family is, whether you talk Yankee or Southern, or whether you go to this church or that church, if you smell smoke, you’re going to call 911. Following that call, as soon as humanly possible, a big red truck with the sole purpose of putting a fire out– or saving your life or even sometimes your pet’s life, is going to pull in your driveway.

Please help us raise money for the the Goodson Kinderhook Volunteer Fire Department. Tickets for this quilt are $1.00 each. Please consider buying….just $5. If you live a long ways off, please still consider buying the tickets. If you send me your address, I’ll send you the tickets with a self addressed stamped envelope for you to return your check and the stubs for drawing back to me.

If you live nearby, yet it’s still not convenient for you to hook up with me, just send me your address. We’ll do the same as if you live outside the area.

I would love to sell 100 chances on this quilt. Please help me.

Thank you.

Peter Livingston Barker and Mendota, Virginia

Here’s a picture of my father’s father, Peter Livingston Barker. I’m hoping that I can get more information on him soon, but for now, here he is. He’s pictured with his sisters.

I was at my cousin Julia’s a couple of years ago, and my other cousin, Forrest Barker (called Brother Barker), referred to Peter Livingston Barker as someone who liked to write or speak. Maybe so…read on what he said about Mendota, Virginia. So hopeful…I’m mixed as to whether I’m sad that little or none of what he talked about is here or perhaps I’m grateful.

Here’s what I found on the internet (and you know the deal…if it is on the internet, it must be true! Ha!) that my grandfather wrote. Courtesy New River Notes Web Page by Jeff Weaver: An Economic and Social Survey of Washington County, Virginia. University of Virginia Record Extension Series Vol. XVII, No. 6, December, 1932 by Ben Bane Dulaney

Mendota

By P. L. Barker

Mendota is situated on the North Fork of Holston River, in the west end of Washington County, Virginia, about half way between Bristol and Gate City, opposite the noted Kinderhook Farm and immediately on the Southern Railway.

The excellent river-bottom lands at Mendota were patented by the Commonwealth to Thomas Kendrick, William Todd Livingston and others, and the home of Peter Livingston was but a short distance below Mendota at the time the noted half-breed Benge made his raid thereon in the year 1794, burning the homestead and carrying off the wife of Peter Livingston. After several days hot pursuit the Indians were overtaken, the savage Benge was killed at long range by Lieutenant Vincent Hobbs. Mrs. Livingston was struck with a tomahawk by an Indian and left for dead-the remaining Indians fleeing-but after being senseless about an hour was revived by the rescue party.

The river-bottom land opposite Mendota, some time previous to 1860, became the property of Adam Hickman, a native of Kinderhook, N. Y. Upon his acquisition of this property, he gave it the name of Kinderhook, and from this farm Kinderhook magisterial district derived its name.

The post office at this point was for many years Kinderhook, but the name was changed to Mendota by Henry C. Holley, who for many years was a merchant at the place.

Hamilton Institute was established at Mendota in the year, 1874. It drew a large, earnest and determined patronage from the Cumberlands on the north to the Blue Ridge Mountains on the south, and is said to have sent more Christian young men and women into the professional and common walks of life than any other institution of learning of its class in its wide territory.

As to the old settlers, it may be remarked that it was no ordinary people who pushed the frontiers back and settled this section. They were of the best stock that Virginia had to offer, and were as high-minded and far-seeing as they were brave and adventurous.

Mendota is the center of the glass sand industry in Virginia. It has one of the finest deposits of silica, used in the manufacture of glassware, pottery, etc., in the United States, said to be inexhaustible in quantity. While industrial development at present is in its infancy, the great number and variety of natural resources, the place being touched by a river and great trunk line railway, it is destined to increase greatly. At present there is considerable prospecting for oil and gas in this vicinity. The town has two flour mills, planing and lumber mills, five stores, and is served by a high-powered electric line, the East Tennessee Light and Power Company, a subsidiary of Cities Service.

The Blue Grass Trail, State Highway No.42, has lately been constructed into the town.