Category Archives: Rural Life in Mendota

Daily adventures in a rural farming community.

Guest House & Honey Bees

I talk about the “guest house” from time to time on this blog. When we did not live in Mendota year round, someone else lived here and took care of RiverCliff Cottage. They did a very good job, and I miss them. They lived in an apartment over the garage. When they left, we put our extra things in, I made window treatments, etc. It became…and still is… a sort of “doll house” for me. Following that, my girlfriend came for a few weeks and stayed several years. I miss her, too. Most recently, I’ve “stuck my foot in the water” in renting it in a modified bed/breakfast fashion. I’ve had a measure of success but I’ll have to figure out if I want to do this as a “real” business. There’s lots to consider–the downside is I get to be the maid as well as the owner.

We’re currently working on the guesthouse, so I took several pictures before we got started. Here’s the kitchen…

Mike made the kitchen table. It’s wormy chestnut with an “apron” from a tobacco barn that had fallen on hard times. It has a second chance as my table. My neighbor gave me the chairs which we spray painted black. I made the window treatments…I even lined them!

Another view…

Here’s the cooking area of the kitchen, and I think you’ll agree that this will look much better with hardwood. We are currently removing the vinyl which is a tough job.

The living room is open to the ktichen…here it is…

I’m leaving the carpet in the living room. It’s good carpet and I think the hardwood that will replace the vinyl will tone it down a little bit. I may replace the carpet in a few years, but I like having carpet in this area because the sofa bed could scratch hardwood when we move it about. Mike made the little coffee table.

On the bannister as you come up the steps, I leave my sister’s quilt to enjoy or snuggle in..I won it during a Mendota Cemetery raffle. I bought a gazillion tickets…

I’ve shown you the bedroom before. I love having the new hardwood in this room because I can swap around quilts and bedding with little thought to what colors they are. I love linens!

The bathroom is really cute…lots of angles…this chair was a trash to treasure find. It was destined for the landfill but visited Mike’s shop and he put it back together, ran over it, and put it back together again. We recovered it in ~~cheap~~ inexpensive fabric from Walmart.

Thank you for visiting the guest house apartment and for reading RiverCliff Cottage. But there’s more…

It’s been a busy day. We are in the process of getting the last of the 2012 honey flow from our bees. I want to share a few bee pictures…this is my brother in law, Gerald Booher, armed with a smoker…he’s serious in his defense. When you “smoke” the bees, they all dive deep into the hive to start eating their honey thinking it might burn. Anyway, I assume that is what they think. Gerald has had quite a few stings in 2012.

Here’s me…I’m sweating like a PIG in this picture. I am armed with sugar water which calms the bees. They are like crack addicts for sugar water. My bee suit it too big so the helmet falls around all the time. I wear leggings, shorts and long sleeves under the suit because the suit does not stop an ambitious bee from stinging. It’s a bit warm.

And here is why we suit up so carefully.

Good night.

Mendota Daily September 5

Yesterday I gathered up corn stalks and made fodder shocks for the front walkway and the back patio. I added an orange harvest bow tonight. Here’s a photo that I took at sunset.

Did I make this bow? Are you kidding? Ms. Betty, Floral Manager for Food City in Weber City, Virginia, made it for me for $6.99. I cannot buy the six feet of ribbon this bow requires for that price, and I sure cannot make a bow as fine as Ms. Betty!

Also, I fixed my framed “B” in the front entry. I usually have a framed white “B” on black chalk in the foyer , but I changed it to a fall-themed “B”. In a post last week, I detailed how I totally screwed up transferring the “B”. However, that is all in the past. I read the directions this time!

And here’s how it looks as part of the entry vignette…

I’ve been working on things around the house all day. I’m reorganizing our laundry room, made a valance for that room and made a valance for the guest house. Can’t wait to share these with you.

Mendota Daily September 4

Do you recall that I said I was planning on doing a lot of fall decorating this week? Well, I still am. Everything is always slower than I think it will be. It’s like I run like water and everything around me runs like molasses.

One thing I really like about fall is fodder shocks. Many years I’ve been the first hanging out at a garden center asking when the fodder shocks are set to arrive. Even last year I bought a bunch of fodder shocks, loaded them in the truck, and then became mortified when they all fell out before I got to the first red light. I wasn’t so mortified that they fell out…things like that happen. I was mortified that I didn’t notice they were falling out and I was leaving a trail behind me. Yikes! Cars were blowing at me and flashing their lights. Finally when I stopped at the light, some very nice person knocked on the window and told me I’d lost my fodder shocks. Every where. All over the road.

This year there will be no trip to town. I grew my own corn! It was good to eat right out of the garden, good to eat now out of the freezer, and now I’ve got my own corn stalks. Sigh. Life is good.

So here they are. I decided I’d surprise Mike and cut them down myself. (This is truly a surprise…I usually outlast him on things like this and he’ll eventually take care of them for me.)

Truthfully, I wasn’t even sure how to cut them down. I went and got a little pruning saw. Here it is. It’s lying on our picnic table. Our oldest grandson painted his name on the picnic table two years ago. I always enjoy looking at it and thought I’d share it with you.

So I just went out and started sawing the old corn stalks. It was easy. However, I was glad I didn’t get a manicure today.

Just a few dozen whacks and a few trips from the garden to the front of the house, and I had one nice fodder shock set up. This is in the front of our house. I used a walkway light to anchor my fodder shock and lots of florist wire to keep it in place.

I wonder how many calories I burned trotting back and forth with my fodder shocks plus the sawing? Here’s the fodder shock in the rear of the house. There was a vine growing up the corn and I just left it in there. It’ll turn brown and not be noticeable, but right now, I think it looks pretty. See those little black eyed susie flowers? They volunteered and I love them.

I’ll be adding pumpkins and mums and bows. I didn’t grow pumpkins this year, and I’m so mad at myself!

Prior to my channeling Paul Bunyan and sawing corn stalks. I had been to Kingsport for a few things. I can’t believe I had to go to Kingsport…I’ve never liked that drive, but drive it I did! I had to return a fake pumpkin at Hobby Lobby and visit the consignment store to drop off some things. By the way, do you think that Bristol could manage to shelve either Cabela’s or Bass Pro and give us a Joanne’s, Hobby Lobby or Michael’s? I hate driving to Kingsport to get my crafty stuff and it’s especially difficult when you have to have two of everything since you mess the first try up.

Moving along after I cut down half of the corn stalks…I came back in the house.

I went back to my organization projects. When I organized the closet in the guest bedroom, I encountered the king size down comforter lying on the bed in the same room. I recently removed this from one of the beds, washed it, hung it out to dry and then realized I had no place to put the monster. It’s been lying in the front bedroom in a big blob on the bed for three or four days. In this picture, it’s on the floor, and you can see what I”m faced with. Try folding it and it comes to life!

However, when I was in Kingsport today, I swung by Target and bought a box of space saver vacumn things. Two jumbos bags in a box for $12. I wondered if they really worked that well. They do!

Here’s what the comforter looked like after I wrestled it into the bag and then vacummed the air out. It’s sort of strange looking. I wonder about all of the down feathers…will they ever fluff up again?

I’ll worry about refluffing later. Look how well it went into the bonnetiere..it’s at the very top. I do not know why this thing is called a bonnetiere, but we bought it at Ethan Allen about 15 years ago and that’s what they called it. I use it for quilts and stuff. Apparently, Mike uses it for a hotwheels set…that is what is in the little gold box on the right on the first shelf. What was he thinking? Isn’t he a little old for that?

Back on it tomorrow!

Checking Off The List!

Did you have a great Labor Day? It was overcast and rainy in Mendota, so we stayed inside. Actually, we celebrated by going to my favorite place! Lowe’s! However, we didn’t get there. We ended up at Home Depot. I feel so dirty…slutty…for stepping out on My Love like that. However, I wasn’t driving and had no control. Forgive me Lowe’s! You are my one True Love.

I am not a list maker. I didn’t make a real list today, but I made a virtual list! I always have a list in my head. Today’s list went something like this…

1) Walk
2) Shower
3) Get more chalkpaint
4) Scrub porch
5) Finish organizing guest bedroom closet
6) Take stuff over for the September 8 Washington County Volunteer Fire Department’s yard sale…

I did them all, almost. I didn’t get the yardsale stuff delivered, but I have a good excuse as I’m still adding things to it.

Here’s the closet as it looks right now. Remember, this is Phase I. I know it’s not over-the-top impressive but I am pleased with the progress.

If you are totally unimpressed, please remember my starting point…

It was a wreck. I opened the door and that little pile of fabric fell on the floor…kind of like it jumped to its death due to its terrible living conditions. I’d just shoved it in there in a busy moment. Sorry.

I now have two of the Little Debbie boxes all painted up with ribbons in the top of the closet. If you did not read last night’s post talking about the Little Debbie boxes you may do so here. These were so easy. I’ve got some flannel linens in one that are so bulky that they do not fold well, and the other one that says “Bingo” houses prizes I’ve collected for a future Mendota Cemetery Bingo. Before, they were just stuffed here and there. Embarassing. Do other people have closets that look like this?

Whew…while my list was not long, I’m tired tonight. Tomorrow I’m going to take 15 items to Whitney’s Closet in Kingsport for consignment (15 is the most without an appointment that I can take over for review). I’ve also go to start working on my Barbie cake for Saturday’s Mendota Heritage Festival. And a zillion other things!

Little Debbie to the Rescue

As I go through the house cleaning, freshening and “taking my house back” after ignoring it for quite a while, I have been mortified at what I’ve allowed our closets to look like. It’s going to be a process getting them to look as I picture them in my mind. By next spring, I’ll have the closets looking perfect, but this will happen in phases. I’m losing weight (three weeks at work and it was a bit of a setback) and at some point I’ll be culling my wardrobe. However, until that happens, I’m hanging onto most of my clothes. Next spring I will be ready to get rid of things (translate..sell them on consignment) and that will be the time that I really organize my closets.

Meanwhile, I have to get them in some order. Here’s the painful truth…

Shame.

So…Phase I begins. The first thing I did was take quite a bit of the things out of the closet. I tried to group things together. There was the fabric stash…and there were sheet sets…and there was just stuff.

I didn’t want to buy more baskets and bins, but I needed additional items to put “stuff” in. I remembered some boxes Mike had brought home from Sam’s Club.

And here’s the inspiration for using the box…I’m just following the directions…”recycle”…

I decided to paint the box with chalk paint.

I’m going to do more of these boxes and I want to use something other than chalk paint. However, this is the only thing I’ve got at the house. Living so far from a store makes everyone in Mendota very resourceful.

I like ribbon and buy all kinds of it when I see it for a good price. I knew I’d be able to use this somewhere in the bedroom.

I took the ribbon and glued it to the painted box with a hot glue gun. This is my prototype…I wanted to have an idea of what this would look like. I have so many ideas that are failures! Because I was anxious to see if it would be something I’d like, I just eyeballed putting the ribbon on the box. If I do another one, which I will, I’ll be a little more precise.

Here’s what it looks like in my closet. I added a bow and wrote “linens” on the side so I’d remember what is in the box.

I’m continuing to work on the closet and will share some pictures later in the week when Phase I is finished. Hopefully, I can work on it and some fall decor projects tomorrow, but I know that Mike has a really great job in store for me scrubbing the porch. Such as sweet guy.

A Couple of Reasons..

I usually do not post anything on RiverCliff Cottage during the weekend. However, it’s almost midnight on Saturday evening, and I can’t sleep so I wandered into the kitchen and found Mike’s laptop and started looking at pictures.

Why would anyone want to live 17 miles from a grocery store? Here’s a couple of reasons…

The photograph above was taken by my brother-in-law looking from his yard into ours. It was taken several years ago and the trees are much larger now.

In the photograph below, the middle swinging bridge on our road is featured. There are three but only two may be seen from the road. This one is a working bridge and is essential to the family that lives across the bridge and the farmer that maintains the Big Loop Farm.

It’s like living inside a postcard.

I’m actually having success with some of my projects, so I hope you’ll watch the blog this week. I’ll be writing about them throughout the week.

Swinging Bridge at Big Loop Farm

Daily Mendota August 31

It’s going to be hard to do this post. Mike swapped Dish Network for Direct-TVand they gave us a movie package for a few months. Dirty Dancing is on and Baby is grabbing Patrick Swayze’s cheeks…not the ones attached to his neck. It’s hard to concentrate!

We got up this morning all energetic. I scrubbed the shower and showered myself, did my hair and then, we went to town! My lovely friend, Sheri, gave me a gift card yesterday as a going away present…how sweet! It was from Lowe’s as she knows that is my True Love, and keeping it in my pocket for 24 hours was very difficult. It’s always been this way….when I first went to work, I was paid weekly, and on each Friday for the first few years, I deposited my paycheck, went shopping and bought a new outfit. This was done on my lunch hour and then …I wore the outfit back to work!!

Back to my story…off we went to Lowe’s. We are always so happy as we go to Lowe’s. Mike and I have Lowe’s in common because it’s really the one he truly loves, too. He had a “nailer” for the hardwood floor in the guesthouse in mind, and I had fall mums gleaming in my eyes.

So..between slobbering around Lowe’s, going to PetSmart, a $230 trip to Walmart followed by a drive-thru at Pal’s, we wasted half the day. We arrived back home so tired that we took a nap. Later, Mike went out to mow and I pretended to be cleaning. I didn’t clean, however. I’m far too engaged in social media to want to clean.

Do you recall yesterday’s fiasco with the “B” or how about the valance fiasco on Saturday? I’m linking them so you can enjoy my humiliation in case you missed reading about them earlier in the week. I have a new fiasco today. Honestly…what is it this week? Is anyone else having these issues?

Mike washed the house down yesterday. It’s something we have to do regularly here on the river else our house siding gets all creepy and moldy looking. He also washed our backporch and the windows are now a mess. I started cleaning them last night but it grew dark and I did a terrible job. I decided that in spite of the fact that I have over 12 different window cleaners…see the post that mentions that here…I would make my own. You know the deal…homemade is always better. Here’s what happened…the recipe called for alcohol, white vinegar, warm water, and cornstarch. I mixed up the required amounts and put them in my squirt bottle. Something seemed wrong. It was terrible. Only then did I realize that the recipe called for cornstarch and I was using corn syrup. What was I thinking???

So….I tabled cleaning windows with my botched brew, and I started thinking about something I could handle..making a tomato sandwich. But I didn’t have any tomatoes! I called the Kisers at Rivermyst Farm which is very close and asked them to set a bag of tomatoes out by their barn and I’d come get them.

I’m taking you along for my visit to get the tomatoes…

Here we go…we’re at the end of Swinging Bridge Road…and the cows are preoccupied with grazing…

Looking toward the right is Gorden Barker Junior’s farm…that corn will be coming down soon!

I arrive at the Kiser’s farm…I love the CSA boxes they use for produce. Stylin’ veggie boxes!

Here’s some pretty peppers….

Ahhh…here’s some roma tomatoes. Yum…all of the produce grown here is certified organic.

Here’s some okra…

Here’s some squash…

The Kisers were there in the barn but they are totally camera shy. This is one hard working family. Mike and I owe them dinner but they are currently too busy to go anywhere. About 14 days, and the worst will be over. You can meet the Kisers at the Bristol Farmer’s Market and/or the Abingdon Farmer’s Market.

Have a great weekend.

Thinking About Fall

On October 10, 2005, I began working at AGC in the Abingdon, Virginia plant– at that time called AFG Glass, and today that ended. I was very certain this is what I wanted to do in March…not as certain in May…but today as I pulled out of the Kingsport Corporate Services Office parking lot, I was happy. Starting my new life!

Fall is my favorite season of the year, and there are lots of opportunities among the family of bloggers to share fall decor ideas. I can’t wait to get started. I have some inspiration in these beautiful sunflowers my young and precious neighbor, Sarah Kiser, gave me.

So…I got home and following a celebratory nap, I continued thinking about fall. I decided there was no better time than today to start introducing autumn into my house. It was also more fun than cleaning windows. Since you enter my house from the foyer, I started there.

Here’s how my foyer has looked all summer…

So, to transition to fall here’s the minor changes I made today. I decided to use the P. Buckley Moss picture commemorating Bristol’s Rhythm & Roots festival as the festival occurs in September. The “B” was to also undergo a transformation. It is not exactly as I want it but it will work for a day or two until I fix it. Of course, I added gourds since I’m covered up in them.

However, as I looked at the picture, it just looked flat…a little blah. I like a live plant here and there — even though this topiary is not as healthy as it used to be–so I added the plant and removed a few of the gourds. Here’s what my foyer looks like tonight as I go to bed.

Back to these gourds…they are everywhere in my house. When I ~~stumble on~~ come up with a good idea, I get all the mileage I can out of it. I picked 200 from my garden, and ~~when they are not rotting~~ I really enjoy seeing them in my house. However, I have to “cull” them weekly. Here’s what happens if I forget to look through them…..

Gag…I should have warned you. This little monster was rotting in a bowl in our dining room. Does it make you hungry…want to eat at my house?

Earlier today I was completely chapped thinking I smelled cat pee in the dining room. We keep gates up to keep the cats out of most of our house, and I was immediately mad at Mike for possibly letting Sweetie Pi (she’s a mathmetician in the cat world) in the dining room. However, I could not find the cat pee. I looked…and sniffed…and looked and sniffed some more. I know…nasty.

Then, I spotted the gourds, and started pulling them out of the bowl. It was bad. There were about five that were starting to rot, and the bowl had moisture in the bottom. Guess what it smelled like?

Not to get too far off the subject, but the stinkin’ rotten gourd thing reminded me of when I was in my 20’s and worked at United Telephone in Bristol. I made a huge ordeal about an odor at my desk and had everyone looking for a dead mouse. As it turned out, it was my feet. Just thinking about it makes my face turn red.

And…I am all thumbs today. That little “B” was going to be such a smashing idea. You would have been very impressed with me…heck..I was very impressed with me! A little bit of fall themed scrapbook paper, slap the “B” on and immediate results.

I got my “B” at Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon so it was a little over $1.00. I had such high hopes for my “B”.

It didn’t work out. I didn’t read the instructions. I’m getting a new “B”. I’m following the instructions after I ruined this one. Although it does look a little scary…maybe a Halloween “B”?

If you see a completed project on this blog, you will know that it was EASY with a very good success rate. Follow me…I’ll find the most mindless projects that give good results and share them!!

Thank you for reading my blog. Please leave a comment so that I will know you’ve been here! If you like what I’ve written, please share the Facebook post with your FB friends and ask them to follow RiverCliff Cottage. I would appreciate it.

Kitchen Light – SOLD!

Happy Wednesday!

In June, I spent much of the month cleaning my house, and as I cleaned, I shared rooms with you. I actually never finished cleaning the house, but I did make it to the kitchen. I have been feeling pretty good about my cheerful little kitchen, except for the light fixture hanging above my kitchen table. Here’s the light…I took the picture standing behind the sink facing the kitchen table.

Note to self: Retake this picture when you’ve wiped the countertop a little better and positioned the vase in the center of the table!!

Here it is…

That light fixture is not right. When I first put it up, the kitchen was a different color, had different window treatments and a different table. I am so passed this light fixture.

The great news is that I won’t have to look at this light much longer. Mike and I were headed to the movies last night, and just as we pulled in to get out and go to purchase the ticket, I told him I’d been looking at Home Depot in Kingsport at a potential new light for the kitchen. We decided to skip the movies and go look at Lowe’s (my love) and Home Depot (my next-in-line love) in Bristol.

Forget Home Depot in Kingsport, I found a light I really liked in the Bristol Home Depot. I had my phone with me so I took a picture. Here it is:

It was not expensive. It was $129. We almost brought it home with us, but we had not visited Lowe’s at that time. I wanted to compare because Lowe’s is my first love. Unfortunately, there was not one at Lowe’s I liked. The one that I considered..sort of… but didn’t like…looked like a woman’s wrought iron and glass breast hanging down from a chain. Pass.

It was getting late so we went on home deciding to return to Home Depot in a day or so. However, when I got home, I went to www.homedepot.com and looked up the light to see if the online price was the same as the store price. You just never know. It was on sale…$77.40 with free shipping. SOLD! It will arrive in about three days. Can’t wait to put it up!

Curtains, Traffic Jam & Oh What Nice Neighbors

Hope your week is starting off good. Mine is! Three more work days and I’m off for a bit until I start my next job.

If you wish to leave a comment and tell me about your week…or anything… there is a section at the end of the post. It would be GREAT to hear from you. Someone told me that they wanted to leave a comment but they were unsure what to say. Just say hi!! I so appreciate it. You may also have RiverCliff Cottage delivered to your email address by subscribing.

Back to the post….this was the post that I meant to include on Sunday, but I was totally taken with the Mendota Cemetery Quilt giveaway. See here if you haven’t read.

I have a thing for linens…and it’s most intense for quilts. I haven’t even made a full-size quilt. I’m too impatient. I buy them from people who have more patience than me. I have helped make some, but I’ve never done one by myself. Maybe some day…

So here’s the weekend recap…

It all started with a traffic jam on the North Fork which runs in front of my house. Can you believe this? Six of ’em!

They are off and paddling in the photo above.

However, this took a few minutes. Had to get the feel of it while sitting in the grass.

Just a beautiful Saturday morning…

After putting in at our house, they paddled underneath two swinging bridges, a tressel, floated past Abrams Creek and looped off the road quite a ways before they pulled out at the Mendota Bridge.

They passed by Hosses’ Farm, Big Loop Farm and Rohoboth Farm. Don’t you love farms with names?

So..then…guess what? I started making my curtain. I mean…it’s just a valance, right? Anyone can do it, rght? I didn’t want to line it and I wasn’t planning to line it, but my sister’s voice nagged me telling me I should line it and that I was being tacky for shortcutting. Tacky? I was totally irked at her. In the end, it didn’t matter, as I made the rod pocket too small. It doesn’t fit. She annoyed and distracted me so much that I didn’t measure properly. I hope she’s reading this so that she knows how upset I am. Sister…STAY OUT OF MY HEAD!!!I also think because I knew I had to go to work on Monday, I hurried.

But there is an alternative theory…I am such a sewing loser.

Check this out…when I went to match up my fabric…I didn’t make a big enough seam. Oh well.

Defeated, I’ve decided that I hate the whole process, and I called the amazing, wonderful, talented–and appreciated–lady who has made window treatments for me many times and asked her if she’d make me a stationary roman shade for my back door. Yes, I’m sure I could do it, but I’m not going to. For $20, I can have it done, and I’ll be there promptly a week from Friday.

Besides… I want to clean up the house and decorate for fall. Those bloggy linky parties are calling me.

So you might ask? Did she put her sewing machine away and clean up her mess?

Chrissy: “Are you kidding? “

Hmmm..nah…I didn’t get things put away. No, instead, I had cross words with my husband who inquired if I was ever going to clean up the mess, and I stalked off with my ipad to look up other projects that are more attuned with my talents. Like spray paint and picking out fabric for my stash.

Another fun thing…our neighbor, Molly Kiser at Rivermyst Farm, called about the peppers they had to share and did we know someone who wanted some? “Yes,” I answered, and then she offered me some, too! Some red ones. I don’t ~~grow~~ get red ones because I eat them before they turn red.

Look at her sweet note on the box…I love my neighbors!

Little insert here…I had to take those peppers…Molly had that certain pitch in her voice…a bit of desperation that made me think what she REALLY WAS SAYING was something like…”if you don’t take these peppers, I don’t know what I’m going to do with them…I’m really tired of seeing them.”

I understand this! People who grow food don’t want to waste a thing…but we get really, really tired of the garden producing so much in such a short period of time. Do you recall my summer squash? I didn’t think they’d every stop multiplying. It makes one…well, generous.

We delivered most of the peppers to the folks who needed them and then I got up early on Sunday and while doing a few other things, I chopped mine up and placed them in freezer.

Here they are. I had already chopped and froze quite a few green peppers, and Molly’s generosity enabled me to add about 12 more packs of chopped red peppers. They look funny. Ha! I’ll be laughing all the way to my plate when I’m eating fahitas with these yummy peppers in them this winter. Thanks to the sweetness of my neighbors.

How are your neighbors treating you? When I lived in a subdivision of 1,000 homes, I knew about two families well enough to call them friends and about ten well enough to know their last names. We are blessed to live in southwest Virginia.