Category Archives: Rural Life in Mendota

Daily adventures in a rural farming community.

Bandana Covered Seat Cushions

I have company staying in the guesthouse this weekend, and it has a very nice deck on the back which most people enjoy sitting on and eating or drinking coffee. There is a cute little table out there that is perfect for this.

But the chairs are hard. I usually have cushions on them. But…the cushions are in pretty bad shape. In fact, I had loaded two of them in the back of the truck for Mike to take the waste disposal station. I hate doing that…I have landfill guilt, but look at them…

Ugh. I looked on Target and Lowe’s to see if there was anything I liked that was cheap. It was serendipitous (don’t you love that word) that I read Kari Anne’s blog called Thistlewood Farms because she mentioned covering seat cushions with bandannas as part of her 4th of July decorations. I decided right then that I’d just cover my ugly cushions with the bandannas until I could find another solution.

I went to Walmart and bought 8 bandannas. They are $1 each. I had wanted to use yellow but there were not any. I opted for red thinking that if this didn’t work, my dog, River, would have 8 red bandannas to wear. In the clothing section, these were $1 but in the craft section, they were $.97. Strange.

Step One. Lay the ugly pillow on the new bandanna. These bandannas are 22 inches square.

Step Two. Lay the second bandanna on top.

Step Three. Tie your corners.

After tying your corners, you just need to work the sides a little and your covered seat pillow will look like this…

And doesn’t this table look much more comfortable and inviting with the bandanna covered pillows?

I’ll bet there are lots of things you can do with bandannas. I’m going to Pinterest and find out!!

Happy Graduation Will Gobble!!

Happy Graduation to Will Gobble! Will is our neighbor’s son, and I’ve watched him grow up. He’s now graduating from Gate City High School! Where did the years go?

Will Gobble

When we started thinking about Adventure Mendota, we knew we’d need one person to help with the heavy lifting of these kayaks. That person would have to have good customer service skills and be certified in lifesaving. I told Mike that it was a shame that one of Angie Meadows’ sons was not interested as they live nearby!! At about that same time, Will Gobble sent an email saying he’d like to work here during the summer. Will is Angie’s son!!

We told him that we weren’t sure how much we’d need him. He said he was flexible.

We told him we’d need for him to get CPR/First Aid certification. He told us he’d already done that. He is a lifeguard in Kingsport.

We asked him if he had transportation to get here? That was a joke since he can walk.

Did he know anything about kayaking? Yes, he already had his own kayak.

I am not sure what we would do without Will Gobble working with Adventure Mendota.

We are looking forward to good things from Will as he evolves from high school student to college student to young adult. He will enter ETSU in the fall, and his career path is engineering. He plans to stay there for two years and then he will transfer to the University of Tennessee. He said he wants to live and work in this area…maybe live in Mendota because he loves the river.

Between his job at the Kingsport Aquatics Center and Adventure Mendota, he has not had a day off in at least a month.

Neth and Will

He’s kind. He loves his dog. And…he suggested that his mother should bring me a Peach Tea from Pal’s! What is not to love about this kid?

Mendota Rising!! Loving Poor Valley!

To me, this is more true today than in quite some time.

Here’s why…

1) I’ve got me a doggy again. He’s a celeb dog.

Rebecca Pepin wrote about him on her blog which I highly recommend you read AND COMMENT!!! She will love your comments! At any rate, River is famous, and you can read about it here! He thinks we are now “Staff.”

2) Adventure Mendota had a fabulous weekend, and our phone is still ringing. We are so excited. Here they are folks…just waiting on you!!

Can someone in Mendota, Virginia bring ecotourism into our part of Washington County? Good, clean fun for families? Keep your fingers crossed!

Kristen Quon joined the Adventure Mendota posse pulling for this little paddle sports business “in the sticks” last week and brought us lots of recognition. I was so happy when I saw her blue WCYB car in front of Adventure Mendota!!

3) Are there people who will remove that beautiful dress from the box or hanger and let Adventure Mendota and Regina Shinall make it memorable again? Heather Faust Bruner did! She trusted this to Regina Shinall.

Regina gave me a couple of very glamourous roles….pull donkey and/or gofer. Heather was having a ball. The river was a little chilly, but she’s a country girl and so long as she wasn’t ~~gray dead with cold~~ too blue, we kept at it!!

4) And the kind words and people who came from everywhere and did a little of this…

and this…

Thank you for reading RiverCliff Cottage!!!

Adventure Mendota Day One!

We opened and everyone in the country has asked “how did ya do?” Everyone was curious. We were, too! In Mendota, we have never had anything like Adventure Mendota and we’re all wondering “will they come?” It’s not unlike the movie “Field of Dreams!!

This was compounded by our uncertainty on whether we’d be open on May 2. We knew the weather would be nice, but we weren’t sure if river conditions would be suitable.

Our friends showed up and we had fun, but we didn’t have “real” customers. However, if we couldn’t have real customers, we had the next best thing. They called. They emailed. We don’t know whether to answer our phone with “hello” or “Adventure Mendota” because the calls come in at odd times. We don’t care! We love it! Thank you to those who called.

The day opened with a surprise front-page article by Marci Gore of the Kingsport Times News. I am so grateful for Marci! Adventure Mendota in the Kingsport Times News. One thing I’m learning about the media is that they want us to succeed as much as we wish to succeed. Certainly, they are looking for things that readers are interested in, but they also are back at their computers cheering for us. You’ll see more media attention in the coming weeks, but Marci’s article was the first, and it is working well. Following Marci’s article, people want to know how to get here, what days we’re open, and to talk about guide fishing. We’ve had reservations! Woohoo!

We had some fun! Who doesn’t love DeeDee and Eric Taylor? Rephrase that…who doesn’t know DeeDee and Eric Taylor? If we were in high school, they’d be getting Cutest Couple and Best All Around and Most Popular. I’d probably be jealous.

DeeDee and Eric

And Joann came up and ate a hotdog with us and wanted to pretend drive the Fork Taxi…don’t be scared! We didn’t let her go anywhere!

Joann Driving

Betty Wood is a good friend. She’s pictured here with Joann. She and Joann are talking about getting a group to picnic on the banks and possibly a Red Hat Float on the Fork. That would be so fun to see!!

Betty and Joan

Mike…snugging with You Know Who on the job accompanied by Darby Taylor. You Know Who is our new rescue dog, River. River did very well yesterday. He’s starting to settle in. Tomorrow, Monday, he meets his vet and has a physical followed by his “surgery” on Tuesday. Since River is now sharing Public Relations with Darby (also pictured), he doesn’t want to be bothered with doggy testosterone.

Darby and River and Mike

River is anxious to be on camera. He’s a natural. Look at that little tongue sticking out! Smarty pants!

River Looking at the Camera

Gerald and Eric went out fishing and caught 18.

Guide Fishing Gerald

Eric brought his drone. If you have not been around a drone, they are so cool!! This one has a camera attached. I can’t wait to see the footage.

Drone

The battery got low, and the drone returned to where it was launched…DeeDee was on hand to catch it.

DeeDee Catching

This is really making us want a drone. Here! She’s caught it!!

DeeDee Caught!

This won’t always be filled with “land” pictures. I am confident. It will take us a few weeks, but we’ll gain more notice each week, and when the weather is hotter, the river will feel so good. Those reservations will be visits, and we’ll all be Floating that Fork!! I went out yesterday with DeeDee. It actually was a perfect day to be in the kayak. The water is still too cold for tubing but in just a few weeks…..we’ll be saying…Live it! Love it! Tube it!

Gratitude

On Facebook in November, I see gratitude posts, and I’m always interested in what people are thankful for. I always intend to do the gratitude journey as well, but I don’t. If I’m truthful, I don’t stay with it long enough to do it for 30 days. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m not a deep person or if my attention which is very gnat-like keeps me moving from thing to thing. However, I am very grateful for many things. Salvation? Of course…it is why and how we now breathe so it’s the basis of all gratitude.

But tonight it is almost midnight, and I’ve been thinking of a few of the “daily” things I’m thankful for. This morning, I did a quick trip to Pal’s to pick up tea and biscuits for myself and two others I work with. I went to pay for my purchases, and they were paid for by the person ahead of me. How nice!

The traffic on the Volunteer Parkway was heavy, and I realized it wasn’t something to be annoyed by, it was something to be thankful for, because the good doctors, nurses, dentists and support staff were busy with a RAM at the Speedway. I pray that those people in those cars are in better shape tonight or following this weekend because of RAM.

Adventure Mendota opens tomorrow, and I have friends and family who are more worried about it than me. I have a sense of peace that people will come. If not tomorrow, they’ll come during the summer. Marci Gore wrote me a note tonight that there was a surprise waiting when I open the Kingsport Times News tomorrow. I’m so grateful for Marci and others who are as enthusiastic about Adventure Mendota as Mike and me. Can we be the first tiny step in revitalizing Mendota? Why not? Optimism! Another thing to be thankful for!!

On a lighter note, this little stinker is something I’m grateful for although he took me for a nice chase this evening. I realized this little guy is my weight loss plan for 2015.

River 1

Me: “River…you come here. Don’t you dare take off. I mean it!”

River 2

Me: “Pleeeezee…River.” Does he even know his name?

River 3

Oh and run we did. He looked over his shoulder and shot off down the road with me chasing him. I’d get relatively close and he’d take back off. Finally, our neighbors at the little cabin up the road stopped and I asked them to help me. Nosy, happy, friendly River had to run up to them and say hello, and they grabbed his collar. Snagged!!

In the coming weeks, we have to figure a way to keep River in his “tiny” six acre lawn. It’s fenced but he can crawl under. At one time there was an electric fence that ran underneath the wood fence which was put there to keep doggies in. I’m not sure if that can be made to work again, but there are other similar ways to keep doggies from running a little too freely. We’ll give him lots of river time, lots of love, and lots of places to run as well as plenty of leash walks, but he cannot take off like he’s trying to do now.

But I’m still grateful for him. Oh my goodness, though, he is farting up a storm as I close out this post. Yikes…something has crawled up River and died!!

River’s Story Begins

On February 4, 2015, we lost our last dog of the three that had shared RiverCliff Cottage since it was built in 1999. The first one to leave was our beloved Annie. She was followed by Gracie and then, of course, Luckie. Luckie was the hardest because there was no one else waiting at home. This painting was done about two years ago of Gracie and Luckie.

Luckie and Gracie

Some people like animals, some people love animals, and there are some people who actually relate to animals more than humans. I think Mike and I fall somewhere in between the last two. We had made a decision not to get a dog until September since it would be challenging to handle a new dog and the activities of Adventure Mendota.

When we removed the Luckie Dog Woodshop sign because it was in the way of Adventure Mendota’s parking, I was filled with emptiness and sadness. We went up and played a bit with our neighbor’s German Shepherd, and on the way home, Mike said, “I think we should go ahead and get another dog.”

The next morning, out of the blue, this was in my email inbox from my animal rights activist/animal rescue friend, Beth.

From: Beth Davis < highhopehaven@yahoo.com>
To: beaule < beaule@aol.com>
Sent: Wed, Apr 29, 2015 8:51 am
Subject: reminds me of Lucky

I saw this on craigslist this morning and thought of you but haven’t heard back from them for more info…

please help him (and there was a picture which I couldn’t insert in this post)

this dog came wondering into the neighborhood. Very sweet can tell its been around kids been following mine around. His front paw is hurt. Don’t know if got hit or …

Following receipt of the email, Mike called me and said “this may be the dog.” Are you interested? I emailed Beth back and said that we were interested.

So Beth reached out to the person who posted the picture, and Mike got the address and went to see the dog. Mike, unfortunately, had a pulled a tendon in his calve, and could barely walk, so he asked our brother-in-law to go with him to see the dog. The dog was very reluctant to get in the truck which suggests it was dropped off and abandoned.

But the dog did get in. And when I got home, this dog was here to meet me. My “bestie” at work, Regina, conspired with me on the best name for this dog. “River”….it so works for him!

He’s been here less than 24 and has been in the river twice. He’s a good dog, and he has been loved by someone. He walks pretty well on the leash and will not get on the furniture. I bought him Blue Buffalo dogfood which is a good brand, and he wants to eat things like potato salad, potato chips, and sandwich butts.

Monday he will meet his vet for the first time. He’ll get his shots, have blood work done, and have this paw looked at that appears to be a toenail issue. If all goes well, Tuesday, he will be neutered. River doesn’t need the distraction of doggy testosterone. He has a business to run.

Meet the official mascot of Adventure Mendota:

This entry was posted in Rural Life in Mendota and tagged Adventure-Mendota-mascot, the-dog-named-river on April 30, 2015 by Eva.

Another Barn Quilt Square And It’s Better

After forever……we finally got the Saw Blade barn quilt square up on the shop which is transitioning to base camp for Adventure Mendota. It looks really good. We’ve got lots of compliments on it. Here it is. And I love it. I really do.

But I am going to love this one more! Could it be any better? It’s a kayak quilt square! Coming to a ~~barn~~ ~~shop~~ base camp near you soon I hope!

Yikes! As if we didn’t have enough to do!

This entry was posted in Rural Life in Mendota and tagged adventure-mendota-rocks, kayak-quilt-square on April 27, 2015 by Eva.

Sam The Cat

Before I left the Washington County Library, I met Sam. He was a tiny little guy with a blue collar which had a bell on it. He seemed to belong to no one. He was hungry, and the boys who hung around during that time thought it was funny when they put Sam in the book drop. I did not.   He remained afraid of certain things and of most people.

I brought him home, and he proved to be the most challenging pet we had. He was territorial and this resulted in our having gates throughout our house. Sam could not go where there was a rug if we were not present. He was a pretty thing. He had no use for dogs. They were to be swatted at. In his mind, dogs drooled and cat ruled.

He liked to sit on the roof. I’d be walking across the front yard and I’d feel something watching me. Right on the highest point of the roof, there sat Sam. He looked like a giant owl.

He was not a healthy cat. Whatever happened to him as a kitten pained him as an adult. His tail had a broken spot and he seemed to have back problems. I could never run my hand down his spine without a cry. He would alternately hiss and smack us and then purr and rub against us. Look how fluffy those ears are in the picture below!

MOST WANTED!! Sam The Sinister Cat

So…he wasn’t a great pet, but he was our pet. And in the wee hours of the morning, about 1:00 am, he slipped away. He was not at home. He had been ill for a few days and we noticed that his abdomen seemed bloated. We took him to Dr. Steve early yesterday morning. “Yes,” Dr. Steve said. “Sam is a very sick cat; he has a large tumor in his abdomen.” We decided to all “sleep on it” to determine the next step…whether we operate–if we even could operate–or whether we let him go. He made that decision for us and slipped quietly away at Dr. Steve’s house. He was warm, comfortable and pain free since he was with Dr. Steve.

Sam…a pretty, slightly mean cat who looked like his nose had been dipped in coffee. Born sometime in 2005. Lived until April 22, 2015.

This entry was posted in Rural Life in Mendota on April 22, 2015 by Eva.

Honeybees Rock April 15 2015

Today was “B” day…the day we examine the hives looking to see how many bees are inside, whether they were producing larvae, and determine the health of the hive. I was feeding them until this week but I’ve stopped. There is plenty for these little guys to forage for right now. Just look at the apple blossoms…

These apple trees are located behind Mike’s shop, our new “base camp” for Adventure Mendota. I blogged my outing today at Adventure Mendota‘s River Blog. Please go over and see it and say hi if you have a moment. The trees were “buzzing” with bees.

So here are my bees.. The middle hive was the one I’ve been worried about but when we opened it, it was full of bees and there was honeybee larvae with bees just about ready to hatch. That means there is a queen and she is working. It’s not as big of a hive as I’d like, but it’s living and appears healthy. The ones on the outer sides are doing very well. I still contend that bubble wrapping and tarping these bees during the extreme cold when the temperatures drop well below zero is the reason they survive…ugly but effective.

I’m worried about swarming so I’ll be placing a nook box out there tomorrow with a little lemongrass oil inside. If there is discussion of swarming going on among the bees, they might just decide to move next door. It happened once…it can happen again!.

In the spring, you “over super” your bees. You give them plenty of room, so we aired out these six supers for all six hives. Gerald, my brother in law has three, and I have three. We want them to understand their house is big–plenty of room for them to add lots of honey!

I’m hoping we have honey this year to sell. Last year, we had so many swarm problems that we didn’t have excess honey. We had about 18 pints and that was it! I’ve always wanted to hang a sign up that says “Local Honey For Sale.” With the shop being open for Adventure Mendota, this will be a perfect place for me to sell my honey.

Here’s a pretty perennial phlox that the bees will enjoy..

Mendota is beautiful this time of year. How is it where you live?

This entry was posted in Rural Life in Mendota on April 19, 2015 by Eva.

Sawblade Barn Quilt Square

When did I start talking about getting a quilt square put on the shop?   I carried this around for months.

It was before we’d ever even thought about Adventure Mendota. It was almost finished on September 16 in the post I called Mendota Rising.

I said it was 20 percent finished in a post in August called Keep On the Sunny Side. Oh my gosh…was I ever an optimist!   I wanted that quilt square in the worst way. I gave Mike the pattern, and he said I should draw it out but he’d paint the plywood first. I came home and he’d painted the plywood, drawn the pattern and he started painting the green “blades”. He said I needed to finish painting it the next day. I told him I would, but I came home and Jr. Picasso had done most of the painting. Great! I don’t mind delegating! It’s all about the end result.

And then…it sat.   And it sat.   And it sat. I could not say too much since I’d contributed zero on it.   And no matter how many times I suggested we go down and finish it, it just sat. He had some excuses that were logical…winter had arrived and it had become extremely cold. The shop’s floor is like a giant ice cube when it gets cold. It sat all winter.

And then…like the redbuds that came out Saturday…look what appeared on the outside of the shop today. Sawblades to the left..

Sawblades to the right…sawblades on the shop..they’re really out of sight! (Picasso is married to a poet!)

This barn quilt square is a 4 x 4 piece of plywood. Because it was a bit smaller than the 6 x 6 that I’d originally wanted, Mike framed it to give it more of a presence. We kept it simple and tried to use paint we already had. I’d at one time painted some exterior doors red and green. We used all exterior paint so there was no need to put a sealer on the quilt square. Mike just came by and said “we…we…we???” Okay…he did all of this.

Now he needs a new project. We are going to have our patio redone as it looks horrible. We need to put the stone that will be removed to good use. I’m thinking a fire pit for Adventure Mendota.

This entry was posted in Rural Life in Mendota and tagged Mendota-quilt-trail, quilt-squares-in-virginia, sawblade-quilt-square on April 14, 2015 by Eva.

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