Jake & Sara

This weekend Sara came to visit us for the first time and she and Franklin finally got to meet. The rest of us met her at a local soccer game several weeks back. Jake was kind enough to take me along on his tour of the Big House as the official photographer.

 

Doug Clarke offered an official tour and here we are in the Big House Library looking at old photographs from the early 1900s and a guest book from when the house was a stage coach inn. Sara was also shown the secret bookshelf door, of course.

 

Here they are in the newish dance shed where the out door flooring for square dances is stored and where the band stands to play. This is where the tree swing is at the bottom of the upper apple orchard.

 

Here's a favorite place of mine - a secret stone bench among the boxwoods -- the perfect place for couples. Sara is attending Suwanee in Tennessee and grew up in Knoxville. She is cousins with Austin Shattuck, one of Jake's best friends whom he's traveled with to Austria, the Bahamas and Colorado. We're hoping we see more of her in the future.

 

Doug leading Sara and Jake on their Big House Tour. It was a gorgeous fall day and I wish you all could have been there.

Finally, Cameron Photos

Memory Refresher: Cameron is our middle son, Walker's girlfriend who is living with us for a year while working locally with the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy. I've been lax in getting photos of her onto this blog but in my defense, she works M-F and I have tried for two good photo ops but in both, we or her were rushing and it didn't work out.

 

Cameron & Walker go domestic: Cameron gave Walker some overalls she no longer wanted and sickeningly they fit Walker all except for the height. Here they are sewing extensions onto the straps and VOILA - they now fit - just in time for turkey-killing today. (Photos forthcoming)

 

Here's a hot and heavy Schmitty card game that eventually came down to just Franklin and Cameron. From L-R: Franklin, Bryce, Walker, Cameron and Jake with his back to us.

 

Here's an overhead of the tense last few hands between Franklin and Cameron with Franklin finally coming in as the winner.
Last night Cameron had a potluck here for her new work friends and it was a grand affair full of good food and a diverse bunch of 20-somethings who are all hoping to make a difference. The area Cameron works with uses monies to purchase large parcels of land that people donate so they can be kept as they are for posterity. Those donating can still live on the land and use it but it won't be developed. Franklin and I went to a recent dinner at the Big House where those folks donating large parcels of land were honored. It's a very selfless and forward-thinking thing to do and we're all blessed by their generosity just as we've been blessed by Cameron's presence in our home.

Chester in Real Life

 

Well, almost.

Floored Truck

 

Two paintings by two different artists hanging in two different houses in the 'development' in the pasture across the street. The first painting doesn't have a name but the second is called "Tyrone is Home" and incorporates the cabin on the hill behind our house into the background.

 

The truck's official name is "Chester" and it came by it's colorful personality via Jake, Mark and Austin with help from cousins, girl-friends, Walker and whoever else. This is actually Chester's second wardrobe and it's been fashioned over time and sports the artist's pen names: Jerome, Tyrone and I can't remember the third one. The FORD lettering on the tailgate was changed to FLOORED by a talented artist and I was once asked if it was a truck owned by Mexicans. Franklin bought "Chester" about a hundred years ago for $1,000 and I didn't think it would last but here it is, still kickin' though untagged with us having spent probably $1.37 in parts over the years. It's hauled firewood, animals, hay, building supplies, kids, bikes, kayaks and is now a rolling toolshed. These two paintings have inspired me to try my hand at painting the old man.

Kids And Goats

 

Walker and Cameron greet Jake after the UNCA vs Appalachian game last Saturday in which a fellow player ruptured his spleen and pancreas. He's still in the hospital a week later and his mother and sister are staying at our house tonight while Franklin and Cameron are out of town.

 

After the game celebration. It was 11:00 pm, Franklin and I were falling asleep on the futon in the living room while the guys played a made-up game of flip the chocolate bar off the top of the Gatorade bottle. Jake, Austin, Cameron, Walker and Lily are in this photo.

 

Some dear friends called and asked if I could babysit a baby female goat for a few days and she was so cute, well, I had to say yes. Gabe's parents also had an emergency need for child sitting this morning so the child and the goat kind of took care of one another. Gabe's taken her across the road for a breakfast in the pasture weeds. We tried on names for size: Carmelita, Latte, Rosie, Eater, Weedie...but since she cries like a human baby all day long, I think I'll dub her "Crybaby".

Erik Passes State Accreditation Test

 

, My oldest son, Erik (31) has just passed his State Assessment Exam to be a paramedic / EMT / Firefighter after much hard work and wringing of the hands. He still has more studying and tests to go but if he passes the next set of tests he should be hirable in October. He has a long tradition of this line of work with his Grandfather (my dad), his father, uncle and now a cousin and brother in the same profession. This photo was taken a few years ago at Morikami Japanese Gardens in Florida. I'm waiting impatiently for him to send me a current photo and eventually, a photo with him in uniform. This post has "Proud Parent" written all over it !!!

Tomato Feeds Family for a Month

 

If only the State Fair was this week, I'd have to enter this baby and claim my prize. It's HUGE. Six 1/2" wide and almost 4" tall - it was one of the few blessings of the drought though we'd settle for having rain and rotted tomatoes. Still, the once-thought poisonous fruits are abundant this year because lack of rain has made the many blights that plague them, struggle for existence - if a blight can do such a thing. I caught Franklin just before he sliced this one. He's had several BLTs from it (and I had one) and there's enough left to make a meal out of. I believe it's a German Johnson tomato - an heirloom variety from NC and Virginia that was one of the four parent lines of the Mortgage Lifter tomato. During the 1940's in West Virginia, it seems there was a guy named Radiator Charlie who, without much of any knowledge of plant breeding, decided he wanted to create a large tomato. He chose the German Johnson (pictured here), the Red Beefsteak and two unknowns. He planted nine of the plants in a circle and put the German Johnson in the center and cross-pollinated it with the others. He did this for six years, saving the best tomato each year to go in the center. When the breed was stable, he sold the seeds for $1.00 each - exorbitant even at today's prices. Thus he paid off his $6,000 mortgage and this new variety (which came from the one pictured here) was called Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter. He never had another variety on his place after that and the seeds are sold even today, though at much more reasonable prices. For the Mortgage Lifter tomato it's not uncommon to grow four-pound fruits!!! Guess you could call the German Johnson it's cousin once or twice removed.