Destination Mendota, Virginia

When my cousin called from South Carolina and said they were coming up…I thought “what are they going to do?  It’s raining nonstop here,  and it could be so boring.”      “Boring is good,” Alisa said.    And then, they arrived, and to keep everyone on their toes, I called Alisa (correct name) “Alisha” (incorrect name) and mixed up Caroline and Rebecca all weekend long.   They were so gracious not to say anything. Oh…and I never bothered to clean the house and didn’t get groceries this week, but it all worked out!! Hey…they’re family!! Here they are…oh…and that is Andy.  My grandmother, Eva Sproles, is his great grandmother–that is how we are all related. We are “first cousins, once removed.”

The Lambs

I should not have worried about being bored. Andy was easy to entertain. He likes to hunt and fish, and we live on the river. Plus — we gave him and Oth (my sweet nephew in-a-way) an assignment — rid us of the skunks that are entering the bee enclosures. Twenty-four hours later we are down four skunks. You are looking at the Skunk Dynasty. “Stinky, Stinky,Stinky.”

Andy and Oth

And what did the girls and I do? We payed our tribute to A. P. Carter and the Carter Family by taking pictures of the store (now a museum) and the Carter cabin. Here’s a couple of the pictures..

Carter Fold

Carter Cabin

Carter Family Music Center

And since these three are serious quilters, we visited Tennessee Quilts in Jonesboro and Short Sheets in Bristol. I’m inserting about ten pictures that are a feast for your eyes. These ladies and these pictures have made me zealous in my desire not just to learn to quilt but to have one done by Christmas. Think I can do it? Yes!

Tennessee Quilts 1

Tennessee Quilts 2

Tennessee Quilts 3 Polka Dots

Tennessee Quilts 4

Tennessee Quilts 5

Tennesse Quilts 4

Are you loving it? Who cares about the upcoming Bristol Race? It’s not “Gentlemen…start your engines.” It’s “Ladies…grab your scissors (actually rotary cutters). Here’s my “Fat Quarters.”

My Quilt Stack

Learning all kinds of new quilt slang…these are “jellyrolls”!!

Jelly Rolls

And the Carter Family tribute that we started on Saturday morning as we took pictures? Serendipity stepped in and we continued on Sunday morning at Mt. Vernon Church. Oscar Harris, Dale Jett, Laura Cash and Daryl Jayne gave us great music — Carter Family style! We shoved pushed jumped stepped in and had our picture taken…Daryl is missing as he’s behind the camera!!

The Gang 2

PS! Alisa and I have something in common! She is a blogger, too! I would appreciate it you’d visit her site some day and say hello. She’s a teacher, and she’s the kind that everyone wants their third grader to have as their teacher. Here’s the link:

http://alisalamb.blogspot.com/

Hope you have a great week. Please be sure and visit again during the week. Hometalk has been nice enough to feature one of my “Clipboards.”

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Pumpkins Show Up

Yesterday I posted about the gourds and pumpkins that showed up early. I didn’t include a picture of the pumpkins. These are “Lazy Gardner” pumpkins.

Lazy Gardner 1

The actual pumpkins looked a little rough this week when I got them…but they’ll be fine outside tucked in with mums.

Future Fall Arrangement

Here’s the pumpkin that rotted and seeded. It was a “Turk’s Turban” and is in the upper part of the cabinet in this picture from last year.

Pumpkin Bread on the Shelf

A bit early but still a nice surprise!

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And We Keep Changing

Gourds 3

I mentioned in a post a few weeks ago that I was reading “Flight Behavior” by Barbara Kingsolver. The author enjoys pulling readers into the relationships in the book…to allow us (the readers) to see things from other folks’ perspectives. However, the final pages are the ones that have lingered with me. In this book, which I hope I don’t spoil for anyone, the monarch butterflies…the King Billies...are wintering in East Tennessee vs. Mexico. There are many factors as to why…the changing climate, availability of milkweed, etc., but it’s not a good thing. It seems to be an impossible situation.

However, there is an inkling of hope as a few of the monarchs survive the winter in spite of all of the perils. We don’t know their final outcome, but we are given hope that they may be evolving and adapting to the new “now.”

And even though it’s not “time” to put out fall decor if you’re a person who follows that type of thing (I am), these guys are tired of lying around on the ground. They are “done” and I’m adapting.

Gourd 1

Not just one…but a bunch! A “gang” or a “gaggle”!

Gourd 2

If you follow Pinterest, Southern Living and all the other places that feature pretty autumn pictures NEXT month, you know that I’m early in placing these pretty gourds in my foyer. What else is there to do???

Gourds IN Foyer

This continues to be a year of change for us…our family is changing, my transition to not working is occurring, and our “dear girls” Gracie and Luckie are getting so old that they will not be with us much longer. Not all these changes are welcome or wanted, but we’re like the King Billies, we’ll adapt.

Thank you for reading RiverCliff Cottage. I hope all your changes are good ones!!

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A Little Bathroom Project Begins

Hi! If I have misspelled words in this post, it’s my stupid laptop. The keyboard is not working right. It is under warranty but what a lot of trouble!

Mike and I are going to be working on our house again during the next 6-9 months. We’re getting the hardwood redone, redoing the kitchen counters, and fixing up this and that. I’m still working part-time for a few more weeks but I’ve already started one of the projects. Our “powder room” is dated, and we are starting there. By the way, when did “half bath” become “powder room?”

Here’s the room tonight…

Half Bath

I’m changing the light, the mirror, the spigot and the paint…maybe some of the cabinet hardware. I still enjoy Lisa Snead’s painting…but I can’t keep it and change the paint. Here’s a glimpse of her work…

Three Walls

Here ‘s the brassy spigot…I had wondered about painting it, but I just went ahead and bought new.

Spigot

Tomorrow we’re removing the mirror which is glued to the wall. Guess who gave me instructions on this? My True Love…

http://www.lowes.com/creative-ideas/bed-and-bath/remove-a-bathroom-mirror/project

I hope this works!

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Bittle Ones of Itches

Polecats — that’s what my daddy called them. I call them skunks, or something that rhymes with “Bittle Ones of Itches.”

Skunk

So these Bittle Ones of Itches used to treat me with respect. Of course, that is when I had young dogs that didn’t mind getting stinky. Now, since Luckie and Gracie’s retirement, and their hunting is more aligned with eating fried worms on the driveway (see picture below), the Bittle Ones of Itches are taking over.

Worm Eaters

My beehives are behind fencing because of them. Carefully constructed so a skunk cannot dig under the fence, the Bittle Ones of Itches are climbing over or squeezing through the fencing. They sit out in front of the hives and when the bees fly out to protect their hive, the skunks eat them. They can destroy a hive.

It’s war. I was thinking of shooting them. I can shoot a 22; it’s easy — however, everyone says there is still a bad stinking problem. Someone suggested trapping them as a more humane resolution but who wants to check the trap? Not me. John Rhoton of Poor Valley Bees came up with the fix!

A welcome mat of sorts…

Welcome Mats

But it’s a special welcome mat…look closer.

Welcome Mat 3

Aha! Some Bittle Ones of Itches are not going to have happy paws when they try to get my bees! It’s a great resolution. They’ll leave unharmed except for an “ouchy” on their feet, and my bees will live another day.

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Channeling Jeff Foxworthy

Have you ever heard of Jeff Foxworthy? If you haven’t, you won’t get this and it’s time for you to leave now and Google. He came to mind last night when I was sitting at Sam’s Club fooling with my Iphone and decided to “check in” and somehow indicated that I was at the “Walmart Restaurant” …waiting on Mike as he got his weekly Sam’s Club fix. I looked awful and was stranded in the truck with the dogs. Just.call.me.loser. It’s not so bad.

But I was really channeling Jeff Foxworthy today when Mike stuck his head in the door and said “do you want to go eat Mexican?” and I grabbed my purse and walked out to go, and here’s what my ride looked like…

My Limo Ride

Are you speechless? As it turned out, El Potrillo in Gate City was closed for vacation. Or maybe they saw us coming and slapped the vacation sign on the door and hid? We’ll never know.

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How About Them Tomatoes?

We finished up the garage sale today. I learned a lot. I had advertised the sale in the newspaper which was $40, but that was a waste. By the time people from Bristol got here, the good stuff was gone. By putting pictures on Facebook as well as advertising on Facebook, I was able to connect with enough people around Mendota to sell everything. The added fun was seeing my neighbors…where else would Trish AND Rico be able to shop together?

Riko and Trish

So a bit after Rico and Trish came by, Mike returned to the house to wash the truck. He was bending here and there, and all of a sudden, his pants fell down. Talk about tomatoes that aren’t ripe!!!

But these tomatoes ARE ripe. BIll Jones of Hiltons grows these pretty tomatoes.

Basil Tomatoes Up Close

I added basil from my patio…and them some cheese…are you hungry yet?…

Tomatoes with Mozzo

Sprinkled a little of this on the whole thing…I also added some sea salt.

Balsamic Vinegar

Beautiful!

Balsamic Vinegar on Tomatoes

Even if you don’t think it is beautiful, it sure is a lot prettier than those two white tomatoes I saw when Mike was washing his truck. Scary.

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Garage Sale Day One

The yard sale finished up today really well. I don’t have too much left to sell tomorrow. One would think I would be grateful, but all I can think of is MY FEET! They are killing me!!!

Except for my feet, it was fun day…here’s my crazy “Forever Friend” Lisa modeling a wool coat in 90 degree temperature. Lisa and I will have fun being old ladies together one day….probably not that far off! She was working on furnishing her classroom. She has alway been extremely artistic, and she now teaches Art in an elementary school.

Lisa Edwards

A couple of other shoppers. They did not see anything they wanted except rabbit ears.

Rabbits

Off to rest my feet!

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Cleaning Out!

What are you doing tomorrow? I am going to spend tomorrow and Saturday in Mike’s shop baking and selling stuff for our yardsale. You know what they say…“one man’s junk…another man’s treasure.” Please come carry this treasure off.

It’s not all junk…it was actually fun digging around in boxes. You see, about 12 years ago we combined two houses into one. We got rid of a lot of things, but for lack of time or desire, we kept too much. And then we added to it.

Sometimes during this yard sale journey, I opened a box and was JOLTED back in time. I bought this in Key West, Florida, when I thought I’d have a baby of my own. That baby never happened, but when I look at this scary mogul I was buying for a crib…well, yikes.

Clown Mogul from Key West

I must have had a complete clown fancy because here’s another one. I bought it in Cary.

Clown Marionette

And then there is this lamp. This lamp is nice, but it is not me. What was I thinking?

Pole Lamp

And then there is this doll pictured below. Mother and I were out one day, and she thought this was cute/funny. I bought it, and we laughed all the way home about how funny this doll was. Mother died in 2005, and this poor dear has been staring at a corner in my attic since that time.

Little Girl

The yard sale will be over in two days. It seems like August is a transition month for me so getting rid of this stuff so close to August is a good thing. I’m transitioning again. Like a caterpillar/butterfly/caterpillar thing. Always changing.

Last year, I left AGC in August and began working with a friend. I’ve had such a nice experience, but now I’m going to not work for a while…maybe forever! I’m looking forward to cleaning the attic, going back to work on making my house exactly the way I want it, and maybe even traveling with Mike a bit.

Lots to look forward to. How about you?

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