Explorations

Wednesday, my brother Norris and I headed to Tennessee to do some exploring and try to find a route to our ancestral land near Elk Valley on the line between Campbell and Scott counties. We took my UTV which was a swell idea because the roads are mostly washed out or just imaginary. We also took my smart phone with the GPS and topo map app. (another swell idea). We arrived around noon Wednesday, found a wide spot in the road, parked, unloaded, and headed back Lamb mountain from the north side. We went back in the bush 3 miles or so, met a hunter, found out we were required by law to wear blaze orange hats and vests because it was deer season, and got close to our land but were not able to climb up to it. The day was crisp unless you were zipping down the road in an open vehicle, them it was just plain cold. We hiked and found some beautiful open woods but it was not our woods.We tried several more trails, met a guy doing maintenance on one of the small gas wells in the area, heard the UTV making a funny noise and headed back to the van. A Cracker Barrel dinner, a trip to Walmart for blaze orange hats and vests, and checking in at the Super 8 rounded out the day.

Thursday dawned cold again. We drove into Lafollette had breakfast, and spent an hour at the historical society were we were able to find a picture of our great grandfather William Allen. He had been a Union spy for Burnside, wounded, captured and exchanged several times.After the Civil war he was elected clerk of courts then judge and served Campbell county for 60 years. We had known his story but had never had a picture of him. Now we do. He had also held high office in the Masons and it turns out the head of the historical society is a Mason. He is going to go through their archives and see what he can find for us.

As the day warmed we went to Elk Valley and tried to get up the mountain that way.We had been up there last spring but were unable to find a route to our property. This time we had the gps and it really helped. The road (trail, path) is in awful shape but we did not have any trouble getting up there with the UTV. We made it up to Big Wheel Gap at the top of the mountain then checked the gps and headed north along the ridge.I kept checking and we kept getting closer. After a couple of miles of dirt road and swimming through mud holes in the ute we made it to our property. It was good to see that no one had hauled it away in the two years since we had been there. There were some survey tapes going across some of our land so someone has been up there but there has been a misunderstanding of the boundaries by some neighboring property holders so it really wasn't too alarming. It was a beautiful afternoon. There were deer tracks all over the place and you could see for miles with the leaves down. We did start smelling a belt burning and found a loose belt on the alternator. After seeing the shape the belt was in, we tightened it up and slowly headed down out of the wilderness.

But wait!!! That's not all!!! Thursday night is Jam Session at Raccoon Valley Campground. I had brought a guitar so we drove down after dinner and had a very nice evening of old songs by old men ( and Carol ) I generally played along but found enough nerve to do "Waterbound" and "Hello Stranger" without anyone throwing anything at me. It is always a nice time and this was no exception. After a day on the mountain and a night in the valley the beds at the motel felt awfully good.

Friday took us to the Courthouse in Scott County for a little deed research that might help firm up our northern boundary. Finally we headed for home. It was an outstanding trip with great weather and a lot of very nice and helpful people.The folks at the motel, the historical society , the courthouse, the principal who let us park the rig in a secure spot at the school while we were up the mountain, and the fellas we met on the mountain were all as helpful as they could be. Once we told people who we were and that we were doing family research everyone seemed to want to help. Well, I'm off to help Mike and Karen Baum with their big Christmas sale so here are some pictures from the mountain including one of my brother walking down what is officially a county road through our land.It's just that no one is sure which county. Thanks for stopping.

PS I have been given a liebster award for the blog by several people. Thank you. I will respond soon.

FIVE WORDS

It's not Thanksgiving without pie.

Time to Feed the Blog

Hello everyone. This week has been busy without a lot to show for it.The weather has been good with frosty mornings and warm afternoons.This has led to yard clean up and building shelves for the newly roofed barn. The days when I can work outside without freezing are getting fewer and fewer as the year marches on so I have to take advantage of them. I have not been totally away from the pottery. I have two classes of clay monkeys that are great fun to teach and I have been making a few pots of my own. The big change you will see when you look at the pictures is that I washed down the studio and changed over to white clay. I love the red stuff and how my glazes look on it at cone 6 but the lure of reduction firing is calling again.I have been making big platters and mugs that I am anxious to finish but instead of Michael Kline's 12 by 12, my production has been more like 2 by Tuesday.  I have a mixed load to bisque this week then glaze next week and fire for a show I am hopefully going to be in on the 8th. I'm next on the list and people always drop out but I wish they would get on with it. In the mean time, Happy Thanksgiving. Do what you love with those you love and it will all be fine.

Two Unrelated Items

All the posturing by both parties over the fiscal cliff this weekend reminds me of my a favorite poem by Shel Silverstein. It always describes the heart of the matter when someone offers a simple solution to a complex problem.

I've found a way to make

 our friendship last forever.

There's really nothing to it.

I'll just tell you what to do.

And you do it

Item number two. The recent storms reminded me of this old song.( played on my $2 yard sale guitar) This may not show on some mobile devices.

Quick Trip

Last Thursday, I headed south down the highway in our little R.V.  First stop was at Raccoon Valley just north of Knoxville. Every Thursday the ESCAPEES campground there has a Bluegrass jam session. You don't need talent, just nerve to participate. Since I can only halfway play, I brought 2 guitars. There might have been 35 or 40 people there with a dozen or so of us performing. I had a very good time and avoided the flying fruit and rotten vegetables. Those folks were so nice that some of them helped me off the stage and showed me the door. One fellow even said he'd like to put me in a long black Cadillac. You can't beat southern hospitality. Seriously, it is a fun evening and a very nice group of people. Any Thursday, 7pm, everyone welcome.

Friday took me to Dillsboro N.C. to help Mike and Karen Baum in their booth at the Western North Carolina Pottery Festival.The drive through the Smoky Mountains was lovely but the sight of snow on the high elevations worried me a little. Luckily, I went around the end of the Smokies and avoided driving through any of it. When I got to Dillsboro, I parked the rig back by the creek and left it there for the weekend. It was very convenient not to have to drive to a motel off site and to have everything I needed close at hand. I helped with set up for a couple of hours then enjoyed watching throwing competitions. These are some outstanding potters from as far away a New York, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Texas. I think the winning 5 lb cylinder was about 17 inches high and the winning 5 lb bowl was nearly 18 .Longest pulled handle? 38 inches. After a quick dinner Mike , Karen and I unloaded their booth from the van and set up the canopy and shelves by lantern light. Friends Marcia Fanthorp and sister Carol also showed up so it went well and only took an hour or so. I was glad to see my snug little bed waiting in a nice warm camper and hit it early.

Saturday, I was up at 6 making coffee and by 7 we were again working under lantern light to unpack boxes and stock the booth. Mike and Karen make lovely durable functional pots and plenty of them.Like a stretched van packed wall to wall end to end and top to bottom. We flew through set up and were ready to go by 9:30. That gave me 2 minutes to run to the bathroom, say hello to John Bauman, meet Ron Philbeck, eat a complementary breakfast burrito and get back to the booth. No time for fooling around or even taking pictures for the blog. You can use the links above to see Mike and Karen's work and see more from the festival.  People started coming and lining up 4 or 5 deep to check out. I was wrapping and bagging in the back of the booth and didn't get to look up until 3 pm. Wow what a show.We closed at 4 and by 5:30 ( again with more help from Marcia) we were packed up and heading for the post show dinner. I hit the sack about 7:30 and that was that.

Sunday was a beautiful day to drive home. I even made a short side trip to Cumberland Falls about 15 miles west of I 75 at Corbin Ky. just to take a picture for you. The falls are 65 ft high and there is a lovely state park there with full amenities.