Spring 2014 is especially welcome. You know why…we are all sick of winter. Bring on the color! After daffodils, forsythia brings most of the early color to our valley
They look so pretty in the house. I usually cut some fresh branches and bring them in– but in this picture, well, you know...they are fake!
Yesterday it was 70 degrees. We went to town and visited My True Love’s garden center. I bought some snapdragons even though it’s too early, because….because I wanted them! I will cover them when the inevitable cold snap occurs.
We also bought three blueberries bushes and installed them in the new raised beds. My former blueberry patch was doing terrible. The soil was not amended properly and they were smothering in clay and just existing. Mike and I moved the three best from that blueberry patch to the raised beds for a total of six. With blueberries, the first year they sleep–the second year they creep–and the third year they leap. I was at Year Five, and all I could hear was snoring. Hopefully, the loose soil amended with peat moss in the raised beds will change that for me. Hopefully! I do love blueberries!
I put this purple wave petunia in between the blueberries. It will be so pretty when it spreads around. Yes…I know it is early, but I’ll be careful!
Mike picked up three trailer loads of compost from the City of Bristol. Hey Bristol! Your garbage! My garden! They told him to get there early on Tuesday or Wednesday because they suspected they’d be running out. He got there very early and we got our compost. He and Neth worked all day putting compost around my plants.
They also pulled a few shrubs. Neth thought he could do this by hand, but the John Deere did a much faster job of it. I wrote about those funny looking shrubs here.
It’s a pretty place here at RiverCliff Cottage, but we work hard to keep it that way. For this year, we’re just getting started!
So excited. Our Dale Jett & Hello Stranger Cemetery Benefit just went on the Crooked Road’s website. Our little benefit takes a lot of volunteers and support; however, in the early weeks leading up to the April 25 date, it’s primarily Oscar Harris and me. We contact newspapers, on-line bulletin boards, television stations, and tell everyone we see about our special night. Earlier this week I showed Oscar the proposed publicity poster for this year’s event.
Here it is. Do you like it? The letter spacing appears incorrect in this image. They are corrected on the copy that’s being printed. I was a little worried because Teresa and Oscar are blurry (on purpose), and Dale’s all crisp and clear. He’ll get the big head for sure.
If you know of a good place for this poster to be displayed in the weeks leading up to the event, message me and I’ll get you one. They are currently being printed. We deliver them wherever there is an interest. In the past two years, we’ve had that magic time when the artists and the audience connect. They will open with “Hello Stranger” but we aren’t strangers to these musicians. We know and love them. You can almost see that connecting thread when the song “Farmer’s Prayer” is played.
Many thanks to Jeff Chamberlin and our pals at Domtar Paper who support this event. We could not do this without them.
If you’ve got loved ones or friends buried in Mendota or Mt. Vernon Cemeteries, I ask that you help me share this information. Our donations are drastically down–we could not maintain these beautiful, restful places without fundraising.
Mt. Vernon and Mendota Cemeteries follow a time-honored, southern tradition of being there when a family is in need and not charging for the gravesite. This event–with the accompanying Cemetery Quilt Raffle– is what allows us to continue that tradition.
Hi there! It’s a sunny Tuesday morning, and I have more to do than a one-armed paper hanger. First, I’ve got to do a little work on a proposed 5K Run we’re trying to have in Mendota. (Pastor Wayne Hays probably thinks this is all done. I am going to disappoint him!) Then, it’s off to work on the 40th JSB Class Reunion with Doris Clendenen Shuman, come home and do a little housework followed by tonight’s meeting with Garrett Jackson on the Economic Benefits of Trails. Tomorrow, I have a bunch of About Face things to do. I love my job at About Face, as I love the products and working with my girlfriend. I totally believe that eating organic is better, but I totally believe that Botox on those frown lines makes the world go better!! Call me at 423.989.3223 if you every want to talk the Botox talk. It’s top secret and I’ll hook you up! But now…back to trails.
I’m wondering…if we just approached the landowners with property adjoining the trail and asked them to consider how a trail could benefit them personally as well as discuss how we could mitigate (NOT litigate) the inconvenience where they’ve built very close or actually on the trail, if they’d consider the benefits??? If the trail was close to my house, I’d be selling lemonade and cookies, cause those bikers are hungry!!
While I realize not everyone is like me, it’s fun–and very wise–to learn about the potential:
I have a bathroom that is a pretty herbal wash green with red and white accents. It’s a cheery room, but you will have to take my word on that because I can’t get a decent picture in that space. It’s a guest bathroom, and while I have towels in the linen closet, I also keep a couple out in a basket so guests won’t have to plow through what will almost certainly be a messy closet.
Here’s my “towel basket”. It came from TJ Maxx.
Here’s how it works (bet you had no idea this is how it looks with towels…right!)
I love red and white and I love polka dots. My mother used to call them “pokey dots.” Mother!! I miss you!! In a day when I had obviously lost my mind and thought I’d try to sew something, I bought a few yards of red and white pokey dots! While it’s not been stored on the front porch all this time, it has been wadded up just like it is here.
That fabric came out of its sad, wadded up state in the closet. Look what I did with just some scissors and glue! POKEY DOTS!!
Each spring I go room by room and clean house. I started in my living room this year. I took everything out of the room. Here’s what it looked like over a week ago.
And it stayed that way for a few days. Finally, we finished cleaning this room and reversing the fan for warm weather which was immediately followed by a night where the temperature dropped to 19 degrees. Spring must be very confused this year.
This room is painted in a Benjamin Moore color I have used before and I never tire of it. It’s called Concord Ivory. I’m not sure I would like it in a dark room but in a sunny room, it looks so pretty and cheerful.
I cleaned this room from the top town. I vacuumed each piece of furniture and put it back where it belonged and then I decided to move it around. This couch was somewhere else in the room. I still don’t have the curtains up.
I also moved this curio. That “arrangement” is sticks I got in the yard and a forsythia branch. I know…it’s a fake. Sorry.
Without running out and buying a lot of stuff, I tried to make the mantle look more spring like. I removed the red berries from the willow branches and inserted some green berries I purchased at Walmart for $3. Like the forsythia, I’m sorry to say my berries are fake.
Here’s the mantle…
I like to see books and magazines on a coffee table. I also like to use alot of live plants in this room (in spite of my two fakes I mentioned earier. )
Here’s the whole room again…I like this room. I think it’s pretty but still casual enough to be comfortable, and it’s very eclectic. I really do need to put the curtains back up. I will. Maybe today.
Next is the kitchen. Have you started your spring cleaning?
Thank you to all of you who reached out to me via email, Facebook and by cards 13 days ago when I lost Gracie. I ache for her presence. I have her remains back, and they are hidden in a place where I know they’re safe until I have the courage to transfer them to an urn.
One friend sent me this poem…
RAINBOW BRIDGE
Just this side of heaven lies the Rainbow Bridge.
When a beloved pet dies, it goes to the Rainbow Bridge.
It makes friends with other animals and frolics over rolling
hills and peaceful lush meadows of green. They are a
healthy and playful as we remember them in days gone by.
Together, the animals chase and play, but the day comes
when a pet will suddenly stop and look into the distance…
bright eyes intent, eager body quivering. Suddenly
recognizing you, your pet bounds quickly across the green
fields and into your embrace. You celebrate in joyous
reunion. You will never again separate.
Happy tears and kisses are warm and plentiful,
your hands caress the face you missed. You look into
the loving eyes of your pet and know that you never
really parted. You realize that though out of sight,
your love had been remembered.
Chilling isn’t it? I’ve been watching my two hives closely this past two weeks because one has had very little activity outside of the hive while the other has been rockin’! Here’s my Hive No. 1. Looking good!! I went out at 10:00 pm last night and inserted the device that holds the jar of sugar water. I’d tried to insert it earlier that day, but my mean little pets did not understand my interest. They will have a change of heart once they fully discover the wonder of wonders in the honeybee world…SUGAR WATER! They will restart their love affair with my visits to the hive. “She’s here! She’s here!”
But Hive No. 2 looked nothing like Hive No. 1…15 bees at the most flying around, and that was a surprise as I had not seen any yesterday when it was 58 degrees. I thought these bees were probably from Hive No. 1 and were over robbing what I suspected to be a dead hive. This was so depressing. I felt I’d lost my dog and now my bees within a ten-day period. However, this morning I did see pollen being carried inside with the very few bees entering Hive No. 2. I hopped on the bee mobile (golf cart) for a visit with my brother-in-law and bee partner, Gerald Booher, to put our antennaes together and figure out what is going on.
I hinted “I’m just dying to look inside that hive.” He said, “let’s go!” Whew! That was almost too easy. We both had the same sinking feeling as we suited up to open the hive. Neither Gerald nor I thought we’d see bees in the hive.
Here’s what we found. Would this many bees be typical in a hive that was being robbed? We do not know.
We pulled another frame. More bees.
Another…we’re looking closely for the queen. We did see one large bee, but she really didn’t look long enough to be the queen. When you first get the queen, she has a big colored dot on her that makes her easy to find. That was months ago, however, and her dot has probably worn off. Gerald said “if we move slowly, they’ll be nice.” They were!
So, at the end of the hour that we spent messing with the bees we know Hive No. 2 does have bees, but we are uncertain if there is a queen. If there is no queen, and there is no queen cell (and we did not see one), the hive will die. We are going back in and looking again in a week. If the hive continues to look weak, we’ll take a queen cell from Hive No. 1 and a couple of frames of bees and move them to the hive that is dying. We’ll see if we can restart that hive.
The upside of all this is that Hive No. 1 is really strong.
Do you have a place for bees in your yard? If not, you might want to make your own date with a honeybee. You should not get bees to make money. You will be disappointed. You really shouldn’t get bees expecting honey but that could happen, and you’ll be thrilled (as will all your honey loving friends). You should get bees because of what the cartoon says.
This past weekend was my last weekend with my beloved Golden Retriever Gracie. I’m aching missing her. We decided not to go to church on Sunday because I did not want to be away from her even for an hour. However, I missed the special music provided by Audrey Auld and Oscar Harris.
If you can take five minutes and listen to the two songs that Oscar and Audrey recently performed – the first is not at Mt. Vernon but for a television show – you won’t be sorry. The first song is called “Dear Mother ” written by Audrey. The second song is “Clinch Mountain Prayer” also written by Audrey and being performed at Mt. Vernon on Sunday. Please listen to her clear voice, peppered with words describing the places and people we love followed by our own very talented Oscar coming in with the autoharp. Are there many things more beautiful than the sounds he makes with the autoharp?
Audrey’s from Australia, lives in Nashville, but obviously she needs to be here with us! She gets it!
Each day I work a small amount on the publicity for the Dale Jett & Hello Stranger Cemetery Benefit on Friday, April 25. (Save the Date!) If you are local and receive WCYB on your television set, mark your calendar for the News 5 at Noon show on Tuesday, April 22. We’ll be there talking about The Third Annual Cemetery Benefit, Oscar and the Poor Valley Girls will be providing some great music, and I’ll have the Mendota Cemetery Quilt with me asking the viewers to help sell a ticket in all 50 states. We missed it by 10 states last year, although we did sell tickets in about 7 foreign countries! This year’s quilt is a beauty….it’s being worked on by Chris, Nancy and Margie. We are so grateful for their hard work and talent. Here’s a little peek…it’s red and white. I love Chris’ sewing machine. Chris knows something it took me years go figure out — newer is not always better.
Margie’s ironing…I didn’t get a picture of Nancy. I’ll get that in a week or two.
Lots going on. Quilts, music, weddings, babies…why does everyone think we live such sleepy lives in Mendota?
I’m going back and listening to those songs again.
A couple of days I wrote about the trip Mike and I took across Clinch Mountain. I didn’t tell you what we did when we got to the other side. We went to Teddy’s!!! If you haven’t been, you know it’s worth the trip. I’ll bet 50 percent of the people who go across the mountain from Mendota end up at Teddy’s.
See the burger on the sign above? If you want a burger like that one, you just tell your waitress to “run it through the garden!” I loved hearing that. Mike ordered his hamburger, and she said “Honey…do you want me to run it through the garden?” I wish she’d let me take her picture. I was able to get a picture of this handsome guy!
They serve great ice cream. It’s busy all the time, but in the summer, it’s really busy…probably because of the ice cream. The people are nice, the prices are good, and the food is great. They even have fried pickles.
Tractors are welcome at Teddy’s. While we were there, a farmer parallel parked his tractor, came in, ate his lunch and got a “to go” for his wife. I liked that. I liked this guy, too. His name was “Flip” and he said for me to tell everyone hello!
So….we came home from the vet today without Gracie…my 15-year old Golden Retriever. She could no longer walk more than a few feet without falling. I have been talking about Gracie on this blog and how I felt her time with me was limited, so this was something I was prepared for. Not. You are never prepared for loss. As this goes, it was as good as it could be. Dr. Dotson sedated her so that she wouldn’t have anxiety. I held her, breathed in her stinkiness one last time, and following a series of injections, she peacefully left me. I loved that dog. I am having her cremated, and like her sister, Annie, she will be buried with Mike or me…whoever goes first. Do dogs go to Heaven?
Mike and I came home bereft. Empty. What to do…what to do..what to do? When Mike asked the question…how did I wanted to spend the remainder of the day…I told him I’d like to go across Clinch Mountain. I am a mountain person, and I cling to what I love during times of loss. So…we got in the truck and took off. I took my camera. The pictures are not that great because the mountain is still sleeping in winter. It’ll burst in green in just a few weeks. There will be dogwood blooms…mountain laurel…a symphony of beauty. However, if you have ties to Clinch Mountain, you’ll still enjoy going along with me on this day of gray.
Up up up we go on the dirt road. I have an affinity to this road–it’s called Pinnacle Road, but I still refer to it as “The Mountain Road”. The Barker family once (many years ago) operated part of the road as a toll road.
Can you see the incline increasing? We are driving into the sky.
No guardrails. If you meet someone, you have to determine who is going to back up to a wider spot. Yikes. It’s a little dicey. You must rely on sky to catch you if you go off the road to the left in the picture below.
We’re at the top in this picture and this pathway is where you’d hike up to the tower.
Because Mike was driving with his not-so-great-knee and a sprained ankle, we omitted part of the trip…the part where we hike to the firetower. Honestly, however, if I’d said I wanted to hike up there, he would have crawled. He wanted so badly for me to not be sad. So sweet. I’ll go another time. When the Hawk Count occurs in September, there’s lots of folks up here. Lots of hawks, some Golden Eagles and some Bald Eagles are seen here. Once at the top, you cross from Washington County into Russell County and start going down. It’s more trecherous going down than driving up. Here we go!
Gotta be careful…see where the road has caved in ahead on the right!! I wish we had stopped so I could take a picture of where that goes…straight down!
Looking through these trees, I see the fire tower. Can you find it? This is like looking at one of those pictures in the HighLights Magazines in the dentist office! It’s there…you just have to look.
I held the camera out the window as we passed so this is a picture of the road just behind us. It’s not particularly steep at this point, but still…I wonder why there is no guardrail anywhere on this road?
God’s Country. This will be so much prettier in a few weeks, but I love it every day…any time. Like Ava Marie in Big Stone Gap…I’m a flat-bottomed mountain girl! When is that movie coming out anyway? If you don’t know what I’m talking about…it’s the movie based on the book by Adriana Trigiani entitled Big Stone Gap starring Patrick Wilson and Ashley Judd. It was filmed in Big Stone Gap, Virginia.
Once we near the bottom there’s a pretty barn and quilt square. Russell County is forming a Russell County Barn Quilt Trail. I am so jealous. Maybe they’ll annex Mendota, so we can get in on the action. We’re dragging our feet in Washington County.
Mocassin Creek flowing below…you can see the remains of a dam…was there a mill here at one time? Also, are there mocassins in the creek or is it named that because it snakes along like a mocassin?
And…I wonder who Bill Jackson Hartsock is/was?
If you got this far in this post, I suspect you’re from Mendota or you have ties to Southwest Virginia. Thank you so much for reading RiverCliff Cottage. I love sharing this beautiful place and our rural life in Mendota with you.
Hope to see you there!
