Category Archives: Rural Life in Mendota

Daily adventures in a rural farming community.

Dale Jett & Hello Stranger – The Cemetery Benefit

It’s March 1, and it’s time to start working on the Dale Jett & Hello Stranger Benefit which will be held the last Friday in April–April 25th. Each day, I’ll do a bit of work to nudge the publicity along. It’s our third year, and we’re always hopeful and nervous that we’ll fill the old Hamilton School Building auditorium up.

Tonight, I met with Oscar. Oscar is part of the group and is pretty famous for his autoharp talent. He lives and breathes music. We talked a bit about my blog and I explained why I had not been posting. He suggested that I post our “story” of how we put together the Dale Jett & Hello Stranger Cemetery Benefit. The picture below is the trio which makes up Dale Jett & Hello Stranger. Oscar is third from the right. Teresa is seated and Dale is standing beside Oscar.

The challenge for us is not the level of talent. We have that. Dale, Teresa and Oscar have been invited to play at the Grand Ol’ Opry. They’ve played at the Smithsonian. Our challenge is getting the word out and making sure everyone knows it’s worth the drive on a Friday evening to come to Mendota. We notify and appear on local tv stations, ask for media attention from the newspapers, and post on all electronic bulletin boards. I put together posters and have them printed that we place throughout the area. We hang banners.

I am so thankful that Domtar Paper provides money to assist with The Cemetery Benefit. We try and use every penny very efficiently. Another publicity item we use that has a minor cost is postcards. We have postcards to make sure that everyone in the surrounding community knows about the benefit. We distribute by mail and other means. Here’s this year’s postcard.

Here’s the reverse…I tried to give the card an aged, western appearance. Dale Jett & Hello Stranger is a group steeped in Carter Family tradition and a love of things people from our area hold dear…our land, animals, Clinch Mountain, our music and faith– and our tender hearts. As I work with templates and design the cards, posters, etc., I try and capture that tradition.

Do you like them? I hope so. And now something funny to end this post and hopefully get you laughing as I ask for your help in getting the word out that something special will happen in Mendota, Virginia on Friday, April 25. CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2Rhh_4GZmU

Barnrock Road March 2014

It has been 14 months since work began on Barnrock Road. Fourteen l.o.n.g. months. Much of it is almost done but the sharp curve where Barnrock meets Swinging Bridge is still there!

Remember this?

Granny Bott's House

I wanted to walk to where the house sat. I parked the truck and walked out on the old road bed which is still in use…here it is…

Barn Rock Road Old Road

I walked off the old paved road onto the new road bed which is packed mud.

Barnrock Road 1

After just a small bit, I’m right where the house sat. I’m not sure how we’ll actually get to Swinging Bridge..there’s no place carved out yet in that direction. I’m sure it will come.

Barn Rock Road Bed

The garage is still the same…I asked Sam Cunningham once if I could plant some flowers near the old garage. Sunflowers? Zinnias? Maybe this year is the year.

Old Garage on Barn Rock

February Bloggy Vacation

I am taking a “Bloggy” Vacation for the month of February. I’ve got something else I’m wanting to focus on so this is a good time to be offline. Please come see me in March. It will be looking something like this around that time.

Front Yard Spring 13

The Status of the Honeybees

It was in the 50’s yesterday, so I went and checked on the honeybees. I like chronicling them on RiverCliff Cottage because it will remind me next year what I did wrong or right. Doesn’t technology rock?

I’m embarrassed at how bad my efforts to sustain them through the extreme cold temperatures look. The bubble wrap is hanging down…the tarp is pulled back and looks nasty. However, my bees are alive so I’m pretty much over feeling silly about it.

I always say my bees are mean, but I’ll let you decide. When I recorded this, there weren’t a great many bees out but there were a few. I was in a short sleeve t-shirt, no veil, etc, and they never threatened me. They are just busy being bees.

I forget they are deaf so you’ll hear me chatting with them on the link below. And now, allow me to introduce you to Mendota’s very own Rock Star Bees!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoeZ6eAiLT8&feature=youtu.be

As We Thaw Out In Mendota

While the evening temperatures went back to -5 degrees last night, we welcomed the sun back yesterday. I promise this is my last drive around showing you weather pictures. However, I slap these up and get about 150 views in a short period of time, so someone enjoys them as much as me.

My girlfriend texted early yesterday and asked “how are the roads? Hmmm…that answer would be “negative, my dear!” This is the road in front of my house yesterday morning. This snow hung to the roads more than the grass and it was about zero degrees when this was taken. Brrr.

Swinging Bridge Road

A bit later, Mike and I put the truck in four-wheel drive and drove down to the Mendota Bridge. Here’s the North Fork flowing toward the bridge. The ice backs up at the bridge.

North Fork at Mendota Bridge

On the opposite side of the bridge, the water is flowing more freely; and if you look closely, you’ll see four ducks enjoying the sunshine. And if you are a mountain person like me, you feel the “sigh” looking at Clinch Mountain. I never feel safe when Clinch Mountain is out of my line my sight.

North Fork at Mendota Bridge Ducks

Further down in Hiltons, there was more ice backed up. On this this day, our river is the bride of Clinch Mountain….all decked out in white!

River Road Again

And then a snake…

Snake River

I took the picture below at the bridge below Lunford’s Mill in Hiltons. While not visible in the picture there are little animal tracks on the frozen part. I hope they are careful.

River at Munsford Mill

I’m sure these cows were enjoying the sunshine and I thought they were pretty crazy to be that close to the icy river. Cows…don’t you know it’s freezing? If you’re from the city, you may be thinking “ice cream.” Nope, think “chilled burgers.” These are beef cattle.

No Milk Here

Here’s a little deer thawing out. I wonder if it’s a farting deer. If you don’t get that, please go here. You’ll crack up.

Bambi

While it’s not the 7th Wonder of the World, a recent “wonder” topic in Hiltons is pictured below with the Black Angus cows. What caused it…what does it mean? Mmm…looks like a leaky pipe to me.

Faust Cows

Went straight to the source with Neal Faust. He first told me that he was not allowed to tell because he’d been asked 501 times and because I was from around here I should know what caused this. Yep…it’s a leaky pipe.

Neal Faust

Later in the evening at the Nordyke Bridge, everything looks blue. It could have been my camera setting, but who knows?

Blue River

The extreme cold is “breaking up” tonight and our low will be about 10 degrees. However, I still think we’ll have snow in the next two weeks. It’s just a feeling.

I Cannot Stop Laughing

It’s been a good day.

1) Both of my bee hives are alive.

2) I’ve gotten old, but my vision improved (this happens when you’re nearsighted and start getting old…but hey…still good!)

3) And then there is this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6fWBXkCMHA

Warming Up in Mendota

We’ve just come off of a very cold week here in Mendota. It’s been all the way down to zero and today’s 45 degrees was balmy. Each night during the extreme cold, I have kept a tarp over my beehives to give them a tiny bit more protection from windchills below zero. I pull the tarp back during the day so that the sun will shine directly onto the hive. Today, Hive #1 rewarded me with a bit of relief. They were working…removing dead bees, flying out to powder their noses, and just being honeybees.

Honeybees in Virginia

Meanwhile, over at Hive #2, there was this.

Hive 2

No bees coming outside of this hive. I saw one bee. Just one. I don’t know whether they have remained clustered today (it wasn’t really warm) and Hive #1 did not remain clustered, or if the worst has happened. Please no. At any rate, it has driven me to drink. Here’s the proof. Thank goodness my sister, Pat, and cousin, Barb, are here to support me during this difficult time. It’s got so bad that I lost my top.

Drinking Baby

We heat with wood via a woodboiler in the winter. Since we pay for the wood, it normally is not a moneysaver, but we stay really nice and cozy; and during extreme temperatures, it may be actually saving us money. I have no idea what our heat bill would be with three heatpumps running during these low temps. There’s two heatpumps for the main house, and one heatpump for the garage apartment. However, we only use the heatpump fans as the woodboiler heats both places. At any rate, I’ve appreciated the warmth we’ve had when I know others have struggled. We’ve been able to keep our house on 70 or 71 degrees on the really windy nights. Mike has to go out twice daily and load the woodboiler. He calls it “feeding the pig.”

Wood

Others we know with woodboilers seem to be able to burn anything in their woodboilers. However, I insisted Mike get one with very high EPA requirements (such a tree hugger). This has resulted in a real challege as it only works efficiently with seasoned (as in one year) hardwoods. As we approach February, we have a great deal of wood, but we may soon run out of wood we can use. Great. However, we do still have the heat pump, and winter is going to be loosening its grip as the weeks pass.

Even though below zero or near zero temperatures are returning tomorrow evening, I’m thinking of spring now…

My succulents…I have these growing everywhere. I do nothing and they just show back up and I place them in pots, shoes, and give them to everyone. My cousin’s wife, Pam Powers, provided me with these succulents years ago. They look sad and brown.

Succulent

Do not dispair! They’ll be large and a soft green in June…similar to these in the boots…just in time for my friend’s daughter’s wedding. I’ve been on Pinterest and succulents are the new thing for wedding flowers.

Randy's Boots

And these dried, dead looking mums...sad.

Winter Mums

In May, I’ll trim the tops off, add some compost and they’ll come back looking like this. These mums are several years old. They are old friends who stop in to spend the summer with me. Lovely.

Mums

Are you looking forward to spring?

Mike and I are. We’re already planning our garden. We’re increasing the number of 4 x 6 raised beds. I’m planting all my green beans in raised beds, all potatoes and onions, cucumbers, and some will become the permanent home of new blueberry bushes. With the 12 new raised beds that be put in place in the coming six weeks, we’ll have a total of 12.

More Raised Beds

Plans and more plans!! I’m off to go look at seed catalogs while I watch Downton Abbey. Could a Sunday evening be more perfect? Stay warm!

Driving to Mendota On Nordyke

We got up early this morning and decided to run to Sam’s Club. Our forecast has been right-on-the-mark with the extreme temperatures but snow has been more miss than hit. I didn’t even think of snow as we left. It was a surprise when we got to town and this occurred within minutes. …and it was a slippery bit of snow. This was the Walmart/Sam’s Club parking lot.

Walmart in the Snow

We grabbed a few things and headed back to Mendota. Mendota is located in “Poor Valley” and you must travel downward to get here from Bristol or Abingdon. We drove on Nordyke Road which twists and turns. I’m always amused when I hear newcomers talk about Nordyke in the winter…they should have seen it before it was improved many years ago. I barely remember it, but no one used it in bad weather.

Speaking of bad weather and our extremely cold temperatures, my sister, Pat, has this thing figured out. There has been a mix-up. Obviously we have been mistakenly given Michigan’s weather, while her son, Cory, has Virginia’s weather where he lives in Texas. I believe there are plans in place at the end of next week for Texas to return Virginia’s weather; and we will, of course, ship Michigan’s right back where it belongs.

It’s pretty driving down Nordyke…I had the camera and took some pictures.

Nordyke in Snow

Another…some of these pictures are blurry on the left side because we were moving when I snapped them…

Nordyke in Snow 2

Lots of frozen water falls..really pretty this time of year.

Ice on Nordyke

After a few miles, the land levels. Here’s the Nordyke Creek as that leveling occurs.

Nordyke Creek

Nordyke Creek flows into the North Fork. I took this from the truck while stopped on the Nordyke Bridge.

North Fork at the Bridge

Stopped at one of the Swinging Bridges to look around.

Swinging Bridge Mendota Virginia

Gray, dreary and really pretty at the same time.

North Fork at Swinging Bridge

Another taken from the bridge…facing the opposite direction. The Barker family had a mill at this location near the turn of the century.

North Fork at the Bridge

And now…home. This was taken in front of the house.

In Front of House

Our cats, which normally stay out a great deal of the time, have been mostly “in” for days. Boredom has set in. Mike yelled at Sam the Cat for playing in the dog’s water bowl. Within minutes, he was elsewhere up to his naughty business. He’s not drinking; he’s tossing water around.

Sam and the Commode

Checking on the Bees

I went up and checked on our Honeybee Hilton. Read here if you need more information on how this crazy tarped arrangement started. What else do you see in this picture? Above the barn…above the roof peeking through from our guest house? Yes…there’s Clinich Mountain. Sigh.

I pulled back the tarp that I’ve had over the two hives in an attempt to protect them from the extreme temperatures. It has been very cold.

I believe they are okay. There is a dead bee outside the hive that was not there on Tuesday, and that’s actually a good sign. They are inside keeping the hive clean.

I’m leaving the tarp pulled back until this evening when the temperature will drop again. I doubt that they will be outside of the hive at all, but in the event they do need to come out and “powder their nose” they can fly right out and right back in.

One of the crazy things I keep thinking about is that the tarp makes it dark in the hive. That’s crazy. It’s dark in the hive all the time.

We Visited Elizabethton

Do you recognize this? If you do, you’ve visited Elizabethton in Carter County, Tennessee. It’s the Doe River Covered Bridge. I took this picture when it was so.very.cold! I’ll go back and take one on a spring day.

Doe River Bridge

I wanted to go to Elizabethton for a while. When I worked for “the phone company” a zillion years ago, I did customer training at North American Rayon. Bemberg Industries and North American Rayon were huge manufacturing plants. I wondered what happened to them. I Googled and found out that they were gone. Sigh…I hope the people found other jobs.

So what was left in Elizabethton? Very nice people and lots of antique stores. The downtown is full of antique stores! I am at a place in my life where I’m getting rid of things versus acquiring them, so I was just a looker…not a shopper.

There was one very cute item that I took a picture of with my iphone. I’ve had Fence Post Pals on the blog a couple of times, but was a new take (for me) on crafting with fence posts. Isn’t she lovely?

This would be a great way to use horrible Christmas sweaters.

These were $30. I almost bought one.

Elizabethton is a town that is hanging on. I liked it. I am going back.