Category Archives: Rural Life in Mendota

Daily adventures in a rural farming community.

Jammin’ With Strawberry Rhubarb

Do people up north eat rhubarb? When I lived there, I never heard the word rhubarb, but you can’t rely on my judgement. I’m so influenced by Southern life that when I attended college (as an adult mind you) and the professor asked what the most common religion was in America, I raised my hand and said “Baptist.” (As most of you know, I was wrong.)

Back to rhubarb… I’ve never heard anyone speak about strawberry rhubarb pie anywhere but…..here! Strawberry-rhubarb pie is a prize in Southwest Virginia! My grandmother, like most of her contemporaries living in Mendota at the time, had a rhubarb patch. She warned us, “never eat those leaves.” I have been thinking about her, and I decided to make some strawberry rhubarb jam, but I had difficulty finding rhubarb. I knew I could get it at the Abingdon Farmer’s Market, but the main market is on Saturday; and on Wednesday, I wanted to get started. I finally found it at Food City….just a few of the red rhubarb stalks for $3.53, but I was glad to get them.

Based on this apparent rhubarb shortage, I decided to plant some rhubarb. I got my plants at Lowe’s. My little patch will have four plants. That’s enough for my needs. They seem to like living out by the barn, and I can water and watch over them as I water my blueberries, potatoes, green beans, etc. My stalks are tiny in the picture below, but fully developed rhubarb stalks look like beet-red celery. You can sprinkle sugar on the stalks for a crunchy, tart treat. And…as my grandmother said, “Never eat those leaves,” because...well, they’ll kill ya! They are poisonous.

Rhubarb

I worked that comment about my blueberries, potatoes, green beans, etc. so I could, once again, show you the raised beds. Anyone considering gardening should consider raised beds. They are the best! I took this picture about one week ago. How ’bout them taters?” We are abundantly blessed in rural Southwest Virginia. Beyond the garden, you’ll see a line of white flowers…those are my blackberries. Behind the blackberries further up on the ridge, there is a huge patch of raspberries. The only challenge with these berries is the competition with the turkeys. They love berries, too.

Back to strawberry-rhubarb jam…I used the traditional recipe for strawberry jam (minus the lavender) (posted here), but in this case, I first chopped up two cups of rhubarb and then added enough crushed strawberries to make 3 and 3/4 cups of the combined crushed strawberries and the chopped rhubarb mixture.

I love the rich red mixture. Strawberry jam is so sweet and the rhubarb adds a bit of tartness.

Strawberry Rhubarb

For those of you who yet to try food preservation, please try it. Making simple jams is a great way to get started. After making one successful batch, you’ll be hooked. So pretty and a great gift.

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

And look at this, the cherries are here! They are so happy and cheerful, but I am not sure whether I’ll bother picking them. You are welcome, birds!

Cherries

Progress on the Master Bedroom (But Not Done)

When I watch tv shows where a house undergoes a “redo” in a day, I feel like such a loser. I started painting days ago, and while the room is now painted, I haven’t got it back together. This picture was taken on May 22. It’s May 30. No we’re not done.

Bedroom 1

We just got it painted yesterday which was May 29. We haven’t put the stuff back. Here’s the bed with all the junk on it that I”m using to clean the room. I’ll be sleeping with that Windex.

Bed

Have you ever done something and then doubted yourself? Maybe you became unsure? I do that most of the time, but not this time. I love this bedroom now that it’s blue. Before I painted, didn’t want to clean it or enter it. I just ignored it most of the time when it was the horrible cold coffee brown color.

Everything looks so much better with the new paint…these sheers have been there forever, but today, they look fresh to me. I washed them and pulled them out of the dryer and put them on the curtain rod. That curtain rod has an interesting history. It’s really a pipe that Mike got at my True Love’s a few years back for 34 cents per foot. We stuck fenials on the pipe, but I can’t remember where we got them.

Sheers

I wanted a few things above the bureau. It has a mirror but I don’t like it. The two pictures are from our days with Nortel. Mike worked out of Calgary, Alberta, and Nortel was nice enough to fly me up several times (obviously before we had dogs). We stayed at Banff Springs Lodge and hiked around Lake Louise. The upper picture is the lodge and the bottom picture is Lake Louise. I purchased these prints on that trip. The chalkboard that says “light of the moon” is a reminder of one of Mike’s first observations about Mendota. “It’s so dark…the only light is from the moon!” When I have to spend the night away from here, I’m very aware of the traffic, noise and lights. I prefer to sleep where there are only the stars and the moon to illuminate the way.

Three pictures

Here they are on the wall…Love Love Love this blue.

Bedroom Wall

One project begats another project. See the blue table I did last year pictured below? It was an Annie Sloan project. It’s going to be white in a day or two. I think it will look really pretty against the blue. I also replaced the lamp.

Master Bedroom Paint 1

I’ll show you when I get all through.

That Poor Valley Mud

It has been beautiful in our river valley for the past few days. Low humidity…sunshine. Everything is growing.

Potatoes and Blueberries

If you’ve followed my blog, you’ve heard me mention… “Once you’ve got that Poor Valley mud on your boots, you can’t wipe it off.” You’ll always want to come back. Please travel around our area with me and enjoy a few of the pictures I’ve taken in the past 24 hours. As I look at them, I think that it’s true — you can’t wipe the Poor Valley mud off. Or maybe you just won’t want to! The hayfield below….I can show you a picture, but I wish I could share the smell. Hay Bales Quilts…this quilt was won this morning by Darius Hall at today’s Mt. Vernon UMC Homecoming. It was donated by Linda Nunley. Her stitches, love and fabric selections helped raise over $1600 for the Mt. Vernon Cemetery. Thank you Linda. Congratulations Darius. Quilt Darius Won

We were all happy that someone we knew won the quilt. However, Fern Salyer and I were also hoping that Dixie Hall of Franklin, Tennessee (and sometimes Maces Springs) would win as this Memorial Day weekend is Dixie and Tom T.’s birthday weekend. Dixie and Tom always support Mt. Vernon and our quilt sales efforts, and we love them! Maybe next year! I took a picture of Fern as she has something to say to Dixie and Tom….

Fern for Tom T and Dixie

In southern, rural America…places like where I live…there’s a blur between families and church families. There’s an intimacy in worshiping together as well as living near one another and sharing lives. You should hear our “prayer and praise” list. We gathered yesterday at Mt. Vernon’s picnic shelter to celebrate Emmie’s first birthday …here she is.

Emmie 18

While we were having birthday fun, a film crew arrived to work on a documentary. Since our church has ties to the Carter Family, this wasn’t as unusual as you might think. We figured out how we could work, party and film together. We invited them to the birthday party and then to Homecoming on Sunday morning. They accepted, and we so enjoyed them.

Film Crew At Table

Some of the film crew were Scotch Irish, and guess what? So are we!! We compared our light eyes…light skin…discussed sunburns. We discovered that the largest difference was in timing…we arrived across the pond a little sooner (a few generations ago) and our accents are no longer quite the same. I asked this pretty young lady to pose with Dale Jett. They compared accents…here’s how Dale summed it up:

Dale and Friend 2

I think the film crew might have gotten some Poor Valley mud on their feet. Dale, Teresa and Oscar sang for them (and us) this morning. I couldn’t get Teresa in the picture from where I was sitting. I was listening….“I’m going where there’s no depression.” Lyrics and sounds that travel across generations.

Great Depression

After church…we went for a drive….you know what we were doing…have you ever got behind someone just barely moving down the road? That was us. We usually say “it’s those Tennessee drivers” but today, it was Mike and me and I was taking pictures. Sorry! It was another opportunity to pick up some more Poor Valley mud. It’s rampant. What do you see below? Do you see lovely small white flowers? If you do, you’re not from around here, and we need to have a lesson! If you live in the Southern Appalachians…in what we call Mendota…Hiltons…or Poor Valley… you don’t really see the flowers on this vine. You see future blackberries! Blackberry cobbler! Blackberries in the freezer! Blackberry jam! It’s going to be a great year for blackberries…they are everywhere! Another rich blessing…another reason to pick up another piece of that Poor Valley mud.

Blackberries

We drove a little further, and Mike said “you’re going to love this” as he spotted the quilt square in the picture below before I did. I do not know these people but I ran right up in their yard and took a picture. A new quilt square! I knew that if the homeowners came out, we’d end up being pals! I love quilt squares, and I am ~~an enthusiastic, crazy for, in love with the idea,~~ a supporter of the Mendota Trail. In fact, I’m certain we’d be best friends!

Quilt Square Thank you for visiting RiverCliff Cottage. Did you get any mud on your boots?

The Clematis…Continued

RiverCliff Cottage was built in 1999, and I have tried to have a beautiful clematis most of the years since. It’s 2014, and I may….just may have my clematis. Catch up on my strategy to keep this clematis alive here. Apparently, it’s working!!

Clematis Plant

Usually after just a few days of blooms, it wilts, but I believe that it’s past that time. I’m telling you people…the City of Bristol, Virginia has some amazing garbage that we call compost. I quit using mulch in the beds around the house and just spread compost. And the results are….

Clematis 2

And this…

Clematis 3

Seriously, it appears that my soil was too poor for the clematis and this was the cause of the wilt. I’d been using commercially packaged compost, etc. but it did not work. The plant is in the same location where it has always tried to live. The only thing different is that for the past 2-3 years, two inches of Bristol compost has been added. Feeling very happy as we approach Memorial Day. Hope you have a wonderful weekend. Thank you for reading RiverCliff Cottage.

Beating Clematis Wilt the Mendota Way

I have never, ever had any luck with growing Clematis. My Clematis efforts have all resulted in wilt. I’ve tried different locations and different varieties. Same old wilt. About three years ago, I gave up. I dug the plant up and tossed it in the compost bin. It tried to come back, but I treated it like a weed and cut it off or tried to pull it up. Instead of Clematis, I focused my attention on this pink Mandevilla and the efforts were well worth it.

Florida Vine

But very near this Mandevilla, there was a Clematis vine that kept peeking out–and getting whacked off. I showed it no mercy. This spring, however, before I had an opportunity to beat it back, the Clematis vine was up taunting me.

Clematis Not Bloomed 2

The picture above shows a healthy vine, but I’ve seen that sort of thing before. Sorry…I’m not buying it. However, shortly thereafter….a little over a week ago…it finally bloomed here and there. Now, I knew the wilt was not far off.

Clematis

I posted on the Rivercliff Cottage Facebook page, and my sister, Pat, gave me very specific instructions on how to keep this thing from wilting. Per Pat’s advice, I don’t speak to it, look at it, water it, or pretend that I think it’s going to stay this way. I only mention that I’m planning on cutting it down when I walk by, but I do so in speaking with an Iris. You have to be very careful when dealing with Clematis. They will taunt you with their beauty and when you fall in love, they wilt. So…just for the record…I hate this plant. It helps that I have some Facebook friends that hate it with me….Lisa Griffith confirmed that she hated my Clematis, too. She was joined by Gayle Whitson who suggested I replace it with a satellite dish. Kay Elliott agreed it was hideous! I mentioned this all to the Iris with the Clematis lurking and listening nearby.

Thus far, this is working. Here’s the Clematis today…more blooms and still no wilt.

Clematis Sunday

Shew! That is one ugly plant.

Half Dead Plants At Lowe’s

I love Lowe’s. It is surely my True Love. Here’s some of the great great deals I’ve got from the Half Dead Plant Rack. Never pay retail!

These were purchased way back at the end of March. They had been bitten by frost and had brown and white spots on some of the leaves. The items in this pot were marked 50% off. I brought them home, potted them, and just watched the temperature at night. I had to move them in the garage once or twice, but I’m really enjoying them.

Pot of Flowers

I really wanted some salvia because the bees love it. I’d bought three one-gallon pots of salvia at Home Depot when it was 4/$12. I wanted more but didn’t get back in time, and I saw it was up to $5.98 yesterday. No way. Today I got some for $2. It was on the Half Dead Plant Rack for $3 but the manager said it looked so pitiful that he only charged me $2. I’m wondering..was it the plant looking sad or me? Who cares!

Salvia Ugly

I trimmed the dead leaves and broken stem off and replanted my $2 salvia in a “$10 hole” of dirt. It’ll do great, and it’s a perennial so I’ll see it again next year.

Salvia Planted

Earlier in the week I scooped up five Bachelor’s Buttons (Scabiosa) for $1 each. Nothing was wrong with the Bachelor’s Button plants except that the blooms had faded. They will come back. The yellow plant beside it had been $5.98 and I got it for $3–I felt only so/so on that purchase.

I wanted a few annuals and last week’s special was four six-packs for $5. I saw my brother-in-law and sister’s healthy plants, and I was green with envy. I went over to Lowe’s thinking I’d do the four six-packs for $5, too. However. the Vinca I wanted…well all of the six packs had one dead flower in them, but they were not on the Half Dead Plant Rack. I asked Lowe’s if they could discount the six pack since I wasn’t really getting six flowers. They did!! Yay! I got the ~~six-pack~~ five flowers for 50 cents. I almost skipped out of Lowe’s.

Vinca

Mike is getting embarassed to go to Lowe’s with me. Seriously.

Feeling Very Blue

I have hated the color of our bedroom since the day I came home and saw it was painted. Our bedroom had been a seafoam/teal green, and I was wanting something softer but had not made a decision. Mike got tired of seeing paint chips all over the walls and one thing led to another, and I ended up with a bedroom that looks like cold coffee. You’ve not seen many pictures of this bedroom on this blog. I hate it.

I’m going blue. I’m going to paint the bedroom the top blue blob in the picture below. It’s Sherwin Williams Aqua Sphere. This picture makes it look a little lighter than it is. It has more gray in it.

UGLY Paint

Here’s the paint chip.

aqua sphere

We’ve budgeted for this some time ago. I’m not going to do too much. It’s going to be painted, I’m purchasing a new lamp and a new rug. I have lots of bedding that works with this. I’ve slipcovered a chair white which will also go in here. The only thing that’s not done is the hardwood floor redo, but we’re waiting a year for that because of our dog. Lucky will most likely be at the Rainbow Bridge next year, and it makes more sense to do it then.

Speaking of blue, I went out to work with our blueberries a bit this morning. We have six blueberry plants in three raised beds. Three are newly purchased in 2014, and three were replanted after they lanquished in bad soil conditions for three years. The raised beds have rich compost with a healthy mix of peat moss for the acidity the plants need. The tricky part is that they also must be watered often at this stage.

These are two of the new plants. The one on the left is blending in with the grass.

Blueberry 1 and 2

I’m the water girl…water…water…water. Every day I’m feeding sugar water to the bees then watering the blueberries and other plants. Here’s the old blueberries, and I’m really pleased to see new leaf growth. There’s a few berries trying to show up, too.

Blueberry 5 and 6

Following taking these pictures, I mixed in the acidifier and some granulite matter that holds water. This mixture is in the drip line around the plant and down in the soil about two inches.

Acidifier

Finally, look at what is in my garden. A clematis isn’t that special, but my clematis always get the wilt. I still don’t think this one will be here next week. Bet she’ll start to wither.

Clematis

This plant has been here for years, but I gave up on it and each year, I’ve tried to dig it up. It’s very determined, and I’ll be really excited if it continues to flower and not wilt. The soil is completely different than it was when this plant first went in the ground. Since them, there has been several inches of compost added annually.

Thank you for reading RiverCliff Cottage. So much mystery in these posts!! Will that clematis wilt? Will the blueberries live? Will she really get the paint on those walls?

Hope you have a great weekend.

George Hendricks’ Wooden Box

There will be a wedding in June at the Farm on Barnrock Road (Helene Holbrook’s Mendota farm). It is going to be so special. It’s Delaney’s special day, but it’s an event that many of us have an interest in. There’s been a huge clean up around the farm recently. Discoveries were made.

What on earth shipped in this box from Interstate Hardware and Supply? Someone suggested dynamite. It’s not crazy…there is a pond on the property, and there is so much rock everywhere. I’m sharing the picture below. If anyone knows what might have been in this box shipped to G. W. Hendricks in Mendota many years ago, please let me know. I just realized I failed to take a picture of the opposite side. It says Interstate Hardware and Supply.

Hardware Hendricks

It says “hardware”, but I wonder what was so important it had its own crate? What a cool find. There were actually two crates.

Hendricks 2

In a nod to the history of this place, these boxes will be on display during the wedding. This wedding has created so much fun and activity. There is chalkboarding, mowing, planning and preserving. The Spring House will be where the drinks will be served. Cool, isn’t it? On the interior, there’s a trough that was used to keep things chilled in the old days. It’s been bleached clean and the old trough will be full of ice keeping things chilled for the wedding party. This Spring House is back at work! Amy Statzer will be bartending and making sure everything is in order in the Spring House.

Spring House

Ahh…I can’t wait. It’s going to be so pretty. Pinterest who?

Walking Down Swinging Bridge Road 2014

Lately I’ve been thinking about the hidden gems in my life. I’m walking today on the road in front of my house looking for things I normally fail to notice. Cars are just too fast.

I started at Jeff and Missy’s barn. Right away I see things I’ve been missing. This barn was built a long time ago as it’s got the stacked stone foundation. See the wreaths? They are barbed wire, and I love the “hoop” on the side. Basketball in Mendota!

Jeff's Barn 1

Another view of this pretty barn…

Jeff's Barn

This road looks lonesome but it’s far from it. I hear the river running, woodpeckers, crows, crickets, dogs and cows. The crows are the worst! It looks like I’m walking through a nice, restful salad instead of a bunch of screeching crows. My nickname was Crow in 7th grade. I wonder why? It must have been my shiny hair.

Swinging Bridge

There is another reason I’m walking with my camera. Something special is happening on Swinging Bridge Road. Marck and Margie Dean are working with the American Chestnut Foundation to restore the mighty chestnut. They are close…very close…to a blight-resistant American Chestnut.

The babies…the tiny seedlings…are here. Carefully protected…guarded…monitored…and in the case of Marck and Margie, the seedlings are also “loved”. They could not have found better caretakers.

Chestnt

This tree was the most important tree in the Southern Appalachians. It could be again. It sustained families and wildlife. In a world of global warming and uncertainty, I have a bit of hope when I look at the small seedings down the way on Swinging Bridge Road. I hope you feel the same way.

Patty does. She’s guarding them. She apologizes for the bad haircut. It’s a work in progress.

Patti

Thank you for reading RiverCliff Cottage.

Five-Gallon Bucket Tomatoes Year 2

Last year Mike and I were getting ready to plant tomatoes, and he said “why don’t we put them in these five-gallon buckets and keep them near the house?” And we did. I didn’t anticipate that so many people would be interested. Well over a thousand people viewed that post, and when I look at “key words” that lead people to RiverCliff Cottage, I see that there is still an interest.

We put out three more this year. Some with holes drilled in the bottom; some with holes drilled in the sides of the bucket. I love just stepping outside and grabbing a tomato. The only modification this year is that we used a garden soil that will retain moisture. I didn’t think this was necessary last year, because they love dry soil. However, not parched soil!

Tomatoes 1

Here’s all three looking nice and fresh early this morning in the shadows from the garage. I’ve already hung sheets on the line, too. Do you have a clothesline?

Tomatoes 2

I’m trying cucumbers now. The first year I grow cucumbers in a new place, I have less issue with cucumber beetles, so I thought by putting them in buckets, I can make this easier each year.

Cucumbers in Buckets

We’re getting ready to start a new project here at RiverCliff Cottage. I’m going to pick up two paint samples to brush on the bedroom walls to see which one looks best. I’ve had pink, green, yucky brown (current) and yellow in the bedroom but never blue. I’m ready for a change. This should take place in 48 hours, but with the way we do things, I’m betting two full weeks until we get this room finished.