SISTERHOOD

This past Friday, Saturday and Sunday we had a Sisters on the Fly camp out near Sisters, OR. I pulled my little "Hen House" trailer. Morgan went along with me. My sister, Sandra, pulled her "Cowgirl Cottage" with her daughter, Alexa, along for the ride with her. Here we are set up in the campground. We are getting spoiled with the partial hook-ups. I love having electricity! We have lamps outside on the tables and of course on the inside so when we arrived and realized we needed an adaptor it was panic time. Luckily the office had an extra she let me use so I shared my power source with Sandra and we enjoyed the warm glow of 75 watt bulbs.
There were 22 sisters at camp. Some newbies attending for the first time. Some friends who attended our camp at Wallowa Lake last September and we got to know sisters who have been around for a long time. We sat around the campfire, made a trash can turkey, crafted, bought jewelry, toured the Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery, went on walks, checked out the head of the Metolius River as it pours out of a spring in the mountain, had a lesson in fly fishing, ate and ate and ate! It was a great three days. We had a fun night of gift exchanging and came home with some nice new bling for the trailers. It's all about the decorating.
I really enjoy being part of this group of exceptional women. Check out the website: http://www.sistersonthefly.com you may just want to join us!

TENNESSEE

What's a trip to Eastern Tennessee backwoods without a lesson in moonshining. We started this in the daylight but finished up in the dark by the light of a full moon so I got the true experience. Everything except tasting it and by the reactions of the others it's just as well because they all thought it had an oily taste. Apparently apples make a better moonshine. This was made from roasting ears of corn. Cousin Larry has the still set up on his property.

This old house belonged to one of Craig's great uncles. It is abandoned now and belongs to some relatives who don't live in the area and are just letting it go to ruin. It is a junker's paradise! On the porch alone is and old black ladder back chair and a chippy pink painted hanging porch swing. Why are those things still there? Inside is an old wood cookstove. These old houses are everywhere and it would be fun to see inside.

One of the pretty things I saw was all the quilt blocks on the sides of barns and buildings. They are part of Appalachian Quilt Trail. It is a trail through eastern TN that highlights agriculture, art, tourism, heritage, and local culture. There are 320 stops along the trail but farmhouses along the trail also put the colorful blocks on their barns and out buildings. It looks like a good custom to copy and I may put one on our new shop.

OK ,so here I am and the dress did fit. (I hate the farmer's tan, though). Linda is the other bridesmaid. She flew in from Arizona. Tonie met her working in the Nampa area. Linda used to work for Walmart so they became good friends. Craig had company also. His mom, brother and a niece flew out for the week of pre-wedding activities. We all had a great time helping out.

Here's the happy couple. Craig and Tonie Hurd. They met while Tonie was living and working in Nampa. They dated there for a while and then Craig had the chance to move back to his home state and be near friends and family again. He asked Tonie to go with him and she said yes. It was a big move on her part but it paid off and she is happy there. You can see it in the look on her face!

The Blue Ridge Mountains are called that because of the light blue color you can see along the top of the mountains. It is caused by the humidity in the air. I saw it really well on my motorcycle ride through the hills one evening. I tried to capture it here. At times it is much more distinctive but you can get the idea. I loved visiting Tennessee and can't wait to go back and see more of this beautiful state.

KYLES FORD NOT PIGEON FORGE

I'm here in Tennessee! Got in to the Tri City Airport at 9:00 Monday night. The three cities are Kingsport, Johnson City, and Bristol. I guess Bristol is a Nascar City and there are races this weekend. Like Gareld said "them hillbillies love their Nascar". I'm here for my good friend, Tonie's wedding. We have been doing errands and preparations all day every day. It has been rainy but today it is NONSTOP downpouring! The wedding is supposed to be outside by this beautiful pond on the property here. This may change the plans and we could end up in the firehall where the reception is going to be anyway. Other family flew out from Idaho and tonight there is a "family cooking" party planned. To translate, that means "moonshining"...hillbillies. I wish I could have gotten a picture of Cousin Larry last night. We were over having dinner at their house and talking about what everyone was wearing to the wedding. He said let me show you. He got a holster and belted it on, let his long graying hair fall on his shoulders, and put on a coon skin cap with the side flaps down and then grinned a scraggle toothed smile. It was great! He and his wife Brenda are the nicest people and they have a beautiful piece of land here. He owns 150 acres that stretches past the pond and up into the Appalachian Mountains. I will let you know how the rest of the visit goes and if we pull off this wedding without a hitch.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Can it be? Seems like yesterday! We aren't old enough to have been married for 30 YEARS!
The marriage license does say 1980 and we have a 29 year old kid (almost) so it must be right.

BLACKBERRIES (or soon to be :)

The other night we walked down to check on the berries. There are lots of them but they have a ways to go before they are ripe and ready for picking. Usually around the end of August, although this year they may be a little behind schedule. I smell pie cooking already!

WORKIN' ON A CHAIN GANG

Ditch number 1. This is the four foot deep ditch that was required for the electrical line. It was rocky digging. Thank goodness for the excavator and his backhoe. Now Gareld has to lay in conduit then OTE will come and put in the pole and wire. Who knew there would be so many things to do before you can even think about moving out here.

Here's some of Gary's handiwork. He has been standing and tamping the poles in by himself. It's heavy work and he does a couple at a time. Trying to hold them in place and get them level and straight is tough. I told him to ask for help (from someone besides me)...so far it's been all him.

Ditch number 2. The ground here was a lot easier to dig in and there is a gradual decline from the shop to the pipe. The will be the sewer line for the bathroom in Gareld's shop.

CAN'T WAIT

I wanted to blog today. Morgan borrowed my camera and took it to Utah this weekend so I don't have any new photos of progress on the property. I dug into some past folders and found this. In a few weeks I will be going on another camping trip in my Sisters on the Fly trailer. I am heading to Sisters, OR the last weekend of this month. I can't wait. I have been thinking of new ways to decorate the outside of my trailer. I have been stocking the inside with magazines to look through on the lazy days of summer. I may try to get it painted before I go. Sandra, Lexy, and Morgan all plan to go too. It will be a great weekend with some new friends and fellow "sisters".

PAYDIRT

It took awhile to attract some animals to the new camera spot.
I got some deer corn at Wal-mart and Gareld put some out on the ground. This time when he checked the camera we had this cow elk, a coyote, a doe and a fawn. None of the seven big bucks we have seen before. They have been hiding out. Towards the end of the month we will move it down by the blackberry bushes at the old house. There's always lots of bear "sign" when the berries are ripe. Oh and they really love the plums, too.