The Colonel's 90th Birthday Party

Hamilton Gardens - 20 April 2009

Monday - Bowling as usual this morning, but with an added treat, the presence of Marcy Larson from Juneau, Alaska, Don Bradley's daughter. After lunch we took a stroll through Hamilton Gardens near Hiawassee. Dogwoods and azaleas were blooming along with a few rhododendrums. It was nice, though only a taste of what it will look like in a couple of weeks.

Highlands Hammock State Park - Florida

In February we spent a few days camped with some Airstream friends in Highlands Hammock State Park near Sebring, Florida. This was the first area in Florida to be designated as a state park. The weather was nice. The atmosphere was peaceful - reminiscent of old Florida before all the development. Here's a short video of a tram ride through the park. No music, no narration - at least, not yet.

Brush Creek

We made a quick trip today to Brush Creek and a visit with Jesse and Margaret Lewis. Jesse was grilling some of his homemade sausage which we had along with Margaret's fresh vegetables for lunch at their mountain hideaway.

Visit To Tallulah Gorge State Park

On Saturday, April 5, 2009, we visited Tallulah Gorge State Park south of Clayton, Georgia with friends, Oskar and Elisabeth Lehotsky, and Don and Georgiana Bradley. It was a beautiful day, and one of the few days each year when water is turned loose from an upstream dam to flood the gorge. The high water attracts kayakers to run the rapids.

Here's a short video highlighting our day.

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Walter's 76th Birthday

76th Birthday - March 10, 2009

A day of surprises! As I left for town to get my drivers license renewed, Ann told me I needed to get home by 10:30am, that we were going out to lunch. Okay..... So, I hurried home, curious as to what she was up to. It soon became apparent that we were going to spend the night somewhere, as she had our bags packed. She then told me that she had reservations at a lodge in Tallulah Falls south of Clayton. But, as we approached Clayton, she directed me to head north. Again, I was baffled. She was then compelled to tell me that we were eating lunch at the Dillard House. Then, as we entered the driveway, she told me that Don and Georgiana Bradley were meeting us for lunch there. Three surprises, and it all sounded good.

Lunch at the Dillard House is an experience, to be sure. As soon as we were seated, out came the food - pork chops, country ham, fried and barbecued chicken, ground meat stuffed in peppers, mashed potatoes, fordhook limas, green beans, creamed corn, squash cassarole, lots of rolls, cornbread, muffins, and I've forgotten what all else. There was hardly room on the table for it all, and impossible to devour. I think we put as much in boxes to take home as we ate.

Then, after a short visit at the Bradleys' home in Rabun Gap, we headed south toward Tallulah, stopping first at the State Park on the east side of the gorge. We'd been there once before, but it was still and interest place to visit. The Interpretive Center is full of native animals (stuffed, of course) displayed in a mock up of their habitat in the mountains. All that taxidermy work was done by a now deceased friend and former neighbor of ours - Ted Bowen. We watched a video of kayakers plunging over the falls, then walked down to an overlook on the rim of the gorge.
The water flowing was relatively calm. Later in the spring, Georgia Power will release an abundant flow of water from their dam, so the Kayakers can again have their fun. Pictures in the museum showed how monstrous the falls become during those times.

By then, it was four o'clock and time to check in at the lodge. The Lodge At Tallulah Falls is less than a year old, and not yet found by very many folks. We felt like we were the only guests in the beautiful facility. Everything was first class. Breakfast the next morning was sort of "do it yourself" but included sausage biscuits, omelets, waffles, and a variety of fruits, cereals, pastries and juices.

The temperature was pleasant, offering the hope that spring was really on the way. After a stop at the Clayton Wallmart, we headed home - an old man and his conniving bride. It had been an exciting birthday.

Christmas Visit

Here we are at the Ryan Steak House in Canton, Georgia - Walter&Ann Berg, Linda&Michael Creighton, Pam, Stan, Martha, and Lydia Hudgins. It was a good reunion visit with family and a good meal hosted by Stan. Afterward we moved to Michael and Linda's apartment at the old Canton Cotton Mill. This old abandoned building has been converted into an apartment complex. Michael gave us a tour of the place. Amazing what a little ingenuity can do. Here are some pictures of the apartment. Their dog's name is Tabor.

On The Road Again

We left our sanctuary on the mountain bright and early on Wednesday morning September 10th for the 400 mile run to son John's near Meherrin, Virginia. Arriving about 4:30pm, we found the folks waiting for us - John, Barbara, Bonnie, Junior, Parker, and Conner. It was our first real-time look at baby Conner - so little. His eyes were wide open and he gave us a gummy grin. Got the motorhome situated up near the barn with a wide-angle view of the Alpaca fields. Bonnie had supper ready in short order.

After a good visit with everyone, including a day trip up to Mechanicsville to Ann's sister Mary Love and her husband Dave Schumaker, we left for our caravan rendesvous at Marietta, Ohio. This caravan is called the Mountain Heritage Caravan - a redo of a Jerry Honaker caravan of several years ago with a few changes. We'll go first to Sugarcreek, Ohio for a week at the Swiss Festival rally. That's always a good time right on the edge of the largest Amish community in the country. We'll then head south to spend time in West Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and north Georgia, ending with a final banquet at Young Harris College in Young Harris. Will try to keep this posted with some pictures as we go along.

Here's Parker at the helm of the motorhome:

Here's Conner at three months:

Ho Hum - Two More Bowls

Woodturning - June, 2008

With Ann away from home for the weekend with her sister and nieces in Swain County, NC, I spent some time on the lathe. This first bowl is made from a piece of wood brought back from Ecuador by a friend, Ron Bartlett. He cut it off a roof truss in a building that was being torn down. The Ecuadorian name of the wood is Colorado, which means simply "Red."

The second bowl is an attempt to duplicate an earlier bowl, requested by daughter-in-law Barbara. It's made from South American purple heart, sandwiching black walnut and poplar.

A Visit to Raybun County, Georgia

June 13-15, 2008

Needing a weekend away from the everyday pressures of home, we hopped into the motorhome and headed east on US76 to Clayton and Rabun County, Georgia. Thinking first to camp at the Black Rock Mountain State Park, we were scared off by a posting on the Internet saying that campsites were limited to a 25' RV. So, it was on to River Vista RV Park near Dillard, GA.

On Saturday morning our first venture was to the Cupboard Café for a hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon, grits, gravy, ham, and toast - enough to be the meal of the day.

Responding to a brochure from the campground office, we next visited the Foxfire Museum & Heritage Center near Mountain City. Twenty plus log structures have been brought in and set up as a typical 1850s era community in the mountains. This entire undertaking has been financed by royalties from the popular Foxfire books published by students of the Rabun Gap School. Students and faculty of the school continue to volunteer time in adding to and maintaining the interesting exhibits.

The old log structures reflect the lifestyle of early pioneers in the southern Appalachians as do the Foxfire books that have made these exhibits possible. A grist mill, blacksmith shop, mule barn, wagon shed, church, hog scalder, root cellar, smokehouse, and several residences make up the community. A group of ladies had gathered in the front yard of one of the houses, each working on their individual spinning wheels. We had an interesting conversation with one who was spinning alpaca fiber into yarn.

One of the wagons on display - called the Zuraw wagon, built in the late 1700s - is the only documented wagon known to have traveled to Oklahoma in the Trail of Tears march in the 1830s. That was the sad trip that removed most of the Cherokee Indians to Oklahoma. The Zuraw wagon was donated to the Foxfire Museum in 1975.

Split rail fences surround many of the structures. Old farm implements - ox bows, plows, rakes, sleds- hang in the old barns. Primitive furniture, such as rope beds, handmade tables and chairs, etc., fill the houses. Stories of where each building came from, who built it, and when, are posted on the doors and the brochure provided us when we paid the $6 admission fee.

The complete story of the Foxfire Museum and Heritage Center can be found at: http://www.theblueridgehighlander.com/foxfire-southern-appalachian-heritage/

Continuing up the mountain from the Foxfire Museum, we soon came to Black Rock Mountain State Park. Located astride the Eastern Continental Divide at an altitude of 3,640 feet, this park is the highest state park in Georgia. There are numerous overlooks providing spectacular views of the surrounding mountains. On clear days they claim to be able to see 80 miles. This was not one of those, but the views were still outstanding. From the deck at the Welcome Center we looked down upon the city of Clayton. Admission to the park on this day was free - a day sponsored by the Coca-Cola Company. They were giving away free cokes at the Welcome Center. On the way down the mountain we took a short detour to Black Rock Lake, a clear mountain lake where Canadian geese were swimming amidst schools of little fish.

Our next venture was a hunt for Dick’s Creek Falls east of Clayton. A brochure we picked up at the campground described this as a beautiful water falls flowing into the Chatooga River. Directions were scanty though. After driving some 15 plus miles east on Warwoman Road without seeing any sign, we stopped at a little store and asked. The lady directed us back about a mile to Sandy Ford Road and told us to turn left and follow it to a bridge. There we crossed a small creek with some minor falls in sight a few yard upstream. An old mill, long abandoned, was near the falls. We took some pictures, but were unimpressed. Later, we decided we had been misdirected. Those beautiful falls emptying into the Chatooga River will have to remain unseen by us until another trip.

Back in Clayton we drove to the Clayton Pharmacy where Ann recalled seeing an old fashioned soda fountain. As it happened, this day (June 14th) they were celebrating one year of operation by offering old time prices. We had a cherry coke for a quarter, a hot dog for fifty cents, and two scoops of ice cream for a dollar. The Coca-Cola Co. may have had something to do with this too.. There were Coca-Cola items on display all through the soda shop and store.

We wound up the day with a stop at the local BP station where we filled up our gas tank with cheap?? ($3.92/gal.) gas. It was $4.05/gal. back in Hiawassee.

CEF Trip

Child Evangelism Fellowship - Warrenton, Missouri. We just returned from Warrenton after a week of volunteering at one of the most effective mission organizations in the world. Twenty-one people from our church - McConnell Memorial Baptist - and another 19 from neighboring Grace Presbyterian enjoyed each other's fellowship and had a rewarding time at the CEF. Most of us worked in the CEF Mailbox Club which manages a Bible correspondence course with some 70,000 active students. While the focus of all activities at CEF is toward children, there are many adults in the correspondence program, many of them prisoners in various jails around the country. We processed about 3,000 lessons each day. None of that would be possible without the help of volunteers like us that come each week to help. Here's a picture of the McConnell group.

Here's another bowl completed just before leaving for CEF. This is made from red oak, trimmed with a combination of poplar and purple heart.

Most Recent Bowls

Now that the weather is warming up, I'll probably be spending more time away from my shop. So, these bowls will be the last shop output for awhile.

First bowl is black walnut with poplar trim, about 7 1/2" in diameter; second is purple heart with poplar stripe, about 5 3/4"; third is black walnut with segment pattern of walnut, maple, and poplar, about 6 1/2".

Another Bowl

Ho-hum .... Another bowl. This one is made from South American Mbusiawood (top & bottom) with maple and walnut segments.

Wedding Pictures - Debra&David - March 1, 2008