2017 Labor Day Muscadine Wine & Balloon Festival at beautiful Tsali Vineyard in Sweetwater, Tennessee (Saturday & Sunday).  Admission $10 to benefit CASA Charity.  $10 for a lovely souvenir wine glass, and unlimited wine tasting from 21 participating wineries.  Live music, delicious food, children's inflatables, sand art, pony rides, and more.  The night ends with a spectacular balloon light show to the beat of fabulous musical playlist (not featured in the video, for obvious copyright reasons).  This is a great Labor-Day Weekend event to attend!

38-Second time lapse, from light to darkness, and back to light, from Athens, Tennessee:  TOTAL ECLIPSE AT THE PARK 2017.  The photo of totality was taken by my son-in-law (all photos copyrighted 8-21-17...posted with permission). It was a spectacular event!  The skies slowly started darkening, with a somewhat bluish haze, and it became considerably cooler.  The crickets started singing (loudly), street and security lights came on.  There was a lovely 360-degree sunset all around, then the moment of totality!  It was amazing and beautiful!  There was white light pouring out of the black disc of the moon, and multi-colored lights dancing inside the white light.  It was almost indescribable... very strange; almost as if time stood still and we were in another dimension - very Twilight.  Then, when the sun first emerged from the black circle, the "Diamond Ring" appeared, and it was truly awesome!  The event was amazing, and I am so thankful to have been able to witness such a beautiful event.  And this was just a small taste of what's to come.  I believe that when we die, we will see EVERYTHING in space... all the beauty and strangeness - things we cannot even imagine!

APPALACHIAN HARP MUSIC / OLD-TIME, SHAPED-NOTE SINGING SCHOOLS IN THE MOUNTAINS OF EAST TENNESSEE:

Some of my fondest childhood memories included the old-time "Singing Schools" that our community mountain churches held.  Many of the churches could not afford instruments, and some did not allow musical instruments (according to their interpretation of the New Testament Gospel).  In order to be able to learn new songs, the church would bring in a local Singing School "Teacher" to teach the congregation how to learn to "sing" Harp Music... or "shaped notes" as we called it.  Learning the shaped notes was much easier (and faster) than learning the lines and spaces.  This made it easier for the congregation, and their song leader, to learn new songs when they purchased new hymnals.  These hymnals were purchased every year, or two years, and they were almost always paperback, as the hardback hymnals were considerably more expensive.  With every singing school that the church held, the congregation got better and better at reading and "singing" the notes.  This simple, yet very effective techinique, allowed many people (including myself) to learn how to play instruments using this mountain music theory.  It was easier to transpose/change keys, and easier to learn the harmony (although most of my relatives had a natural "ear" for harmony).  Many of my relatives could not afford instruments, so they made their own:  banjos, dobos, fiddles, mandolins, guitars... and my grandmother and aunt could "play" the spoons, which was a thrill to watch!  As a very small child, I remember how easy it was to associate the sound with the shape.  It was a big thrill for a poor mountain girl, like me, to get to attend these singing schools.  My parents tried to take me to all of the surrounding churches when they held these events.  The church would "pass the hat" and take up a love offering for the teacher, on the last day of the school, and the singing teacher usually took turns spending the night with church members, as it was expensive to travel back then, and some of them actually did not own vehicles, and still rode horses to church.  We learned this theory from the "Rudiments of Music" booklet (I still have my grandfather's copy), and every night we began by reciting the definition of music (from this book).  We children especially loved learning this, because at the end of the week, if we could stand up in front of the congregation and recite this definition, the old singing school teacher would give us each a piece of hard candy, and that was the highlight of my week!  There are still Harp Music Conventions held, today. One such convention is held at Cade's Cove, near Townsend, Tennessee - just outside of Pigeon Forge.  This harp singing was featured in the movie, "Cold Mountain", and is one of the many rich elements of our Appalachian way of life.  Mountain life was hard, and our families were somewhat isolated from the rest of the world (some parts still are, today), so music was a favorite pastime for us, all. I can still hear the whole congregation joining in to sing the shaped notes, each person singing the notes for their particular part of music:  Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass.  It almost sounded like we were singing in a different language, and well... I suppose we were!  DO-RE-MI-FA-SO-LA-TI-DO

MUSIC IS THE SCIENCE OF SOUND, OR A RHYTHMICAL SUCCESSION, OR A COMBINATION OF PLEASING TONES.

LOVELY CZECH GLASSWARE!

Here are 3 of each set of glasses from the famous Czech Republic glass factories.  Each piece is hand blown, and has unique properties that are not found anywhere else.  These were given to me as a gift from some very special Czechs, who visit us here in Tennessee, often.   They are adopted family members!   They told me that this particular pattern is from the Egermann Collection, and it is a very old and traditional Czech glass.  I LOVE THEM!

Simple Southern-Comfort Food...

"Soup Beans" (pinto beans) and ham, fresh homemade slaw, cornbread, and buttery pound cake with cherry topping. . . A good meal for those days when I especially miss Mama!

FALL FOLIAGE IN EAST TENNESSEE!

I have been enjoying my ride to work...taking in the colorful Fall trees, that seem to make everything around them appear blah, and boring. Beautiful, vivid, and breathtaking...God is the ultimate artist!

Special Avon Items...

I have always been fascinated by Avon items. Some of the older items were very beautiful, and actually well-made. I always wanted a collection of the Ruby Red glassware and plate settings, but as a young mother, I was never financailly able to buy more than a few pieces. My dear departed Mother-in-Law collected Avon Bottles and had a collection that numbered over 600 items. For special reasons, the two items above hold significant meaning to me. First, the green stocking bottle, with the red lid, was given to me by my mother-in-law when she was very sick, and very close to death (several years before she died.) She told me to save it for my son, and give it to him when he grew up (which I did). The second item, the Stetson-Hat smoker's candle, was a gift from me to my dad back in the early 80's. He hardly ever used the candle, but he displayed it on his side table for many years. He was a man of few words, so I knew that by keeping the candle beside his chair, it meant something to him, and THAT meant something to me. Funny how certain things can mean so much to one, and be so insignificant to others. I suppose the old addage of, "One man's trash, is another man's tresure," holds true. (Miss you and love you, Caleb.)

SNOW IN THE SOUTH!

The snow is beautiful, but treacherous, on these back roads in the South. Worse, have been the ice storms that have caused major problems for small southern towns. Local road crews were not prepared for snow storms of this capacity; nor, did they have the resources to deal with the dangerous conditions. I think we are ALL ready for Spring!

My Daughter's Lily. . .

Bigger and better blooms, this year. . . : )

"There is no season such delight can bring,As summer, autumn, winter and the spring."- William Browne, Variety, 1630

I really have enjoyed all the wonderful snow we have experienced, but it's March. . . I never thought I would ever look forward to yardwork and mowing! It snowed, yesterday. I think that's enough, Mr. Old Man Winter!

Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton - Local Legend

R.I.P Popcorn. . . Offering sincere condolences and prayer to his family and friends. "THE LAST AUTHENTIC MOONSHINER!"

Marriage "Bond". . .

This is the marriage "bond" that my Great-Grandfather, William, had to post when he married my Great-Grandmother, Joanna "Josie". William had to post this $100-dollar bond before he could marry Josie. Josie's parents were killed in a horse and buggy accident, so her grandfather, one H. J. Anderson from Whitley County, KY, required that William put up the bond so her wouldn't back out on the deal. Apparently, that was common practice back then. . .

Josie was 16 years of age, and that was considered OLD-maid age at that time. William was 29 years old, and I guess my GGG-Grandfather, H. J., wasn't going to take a chance on William changing his mind! But William was more than happy to post the bond, and looked very happy in this wedding day photo of he and Josie. Josie, on the other hand, looks scared and bewildered. Sadly, they were only married for 2 1/2 years, before William reportedly "fell off of a bridge" and developed "scarfulous". (Our family has researched "scarfulous" and can't find anything remotely similar, so we assume he acquired gangrene in his leg.)

Now, just imagine if men were required to post bond, today. . . ! LOL

TVA has become a MONSTER!

And, just what do you feed this monster?

MONEY, of course. And LOTS of it! Here, in East Tennessee, we have experienced a 20% rate increase, AND an additional surcharge (which allowed our local electric companies to add on ANOTHER rate increase). And, to add insult to injury, our local electric company added 4 extra days onto the readings for the month of December. Never mind that is was Christmas, and that our community has experienced major job layoffs, and that people were struggling to provide a decent Christmas for their children! AND, just recently, the monster goofed and, through their own incompetency, caused an ash spill in Roane County that displaced families (right at the holidays) and created an unbelieve mess of nasty sludge, and God only knows what kind of toxins and harmful bacteria (the fish are dying and have lesions in their gils. . .)! OH, BUT THE MONSTER ISN'T WORRIED! TVA, aka "the monster, CEO, Tom Kilgore, just announced that the cost of cleaning up THEIR mess, and the cost of the lawsuits filed against them by the families who had to endure this major spill, will be PASSED ONTO THE CONSUMER IN THE FORM OF INCREASED ELECTRICAL RATES AND ADDITIONAL SURCHARGES! Mr. Kilgore still got his incentive bonus (for what? more revenue generated?). . . a mere $1 million!!! (Bringing his annual income for 2008 to $2.4 million!!!!!! The chief financial officer, Kimberly Green, had an annual income of 1.3 million, and William McCollum, chief operating officer, made a mere $1.8 million!!! (Not counting expense accounts and perks, folks!)

Now, I can remember my dear old grandfather talking about how they first got electricity in the mountains, where he and my grandmother (and 8 kids, and numerous amounts of grandchildren, and relatives) lived in a little country shack, cooking off an old wood stove, and carrying water in to wash and cook with, EVERYDAY. He would remember TVA bringing electricity to rural areas with much emotion. No doubt it brought much joy and relief to their hard way of life. TVA was a mere mortal, at that point. A good thing. But, greed took over, and the good became bad. We are all slaves of the monster, TVA! Each electric company under the authority of TVA, operate as monopolies, taking from people who are struggling to get by. I don't understand all these people who are scratching their heads and wondering why our economy has gotten so bad! GREED, people. Pure and simple. Businesses charge inflated prices just because they can. And, NOW, it has come to a head. What goes up, must come down.

I refuse to feed the monster any more than I have to. I put on extra clothes, turn the thermostat WAY down, unplug all appliances that are not in use, use flourescent bulbs, and oh, yes, I call my local electric company to find out what day my meter will be read (I have YET to see anyone read my meter), and I PHOTOGRAPH MY METER ON THAT DAY! Needless to say, my electric bills have remained relatively low, because they KNOW I am watching! (I live alone.) But the local news channels have ran reports of families who are paying more for their electricity, beginning with the month of December, 2008, than their MORTGAGES! Assistance isn't available for them because they "make too much", and the best they can get is a 1-week extension to pay, or face having their electricity shut off in temperatures down in the teens! (Never mind that they have children, who have NO dog in the race. . .) EVIL GREED!

It sickens me to think that these CEOs, as well as company managers, enjoy such lavish lifestyles, at the expense of hard-working families who live from paycheck to paycheck. As Miss Daisy would say: "That's vulgar!" I have one word to say to all of them: KARMA!

Old Signs Found!

My brother found these old signs in the attic. One sign is metal and the other is wooden. My dad used to repair televisions and radios, back when they used the old picture tubes and transistors. His "shop" was inside my grandmother's old country store, and the metal sign hung below the Kern's sign that read: Marshall's Grocery. Good memories. . .

I WAS BORN IN A SMALL TOWN. . .

What a lovely small town I live in! Too bad the taxes are sky-high and rising. . . my town has the highest sales tax rate in the state of Tennessee, and Tennessee has the highest sales tax rate of ALL the 50 states!!!(Source: http://www.fairtaxation.org/facts/sales_tax_rank.php) While our property taxes are relatively low, compared to other states, they are ALSO on the rise. Our city/county taxes were raised last year by a whopping 40 percent! Ouch! It's getting more and more expensive to live the small-town life. . .

Still, it is such a quaint little town. . .

HAVE WE REALLY COME A LONG WAY, BABY?

Interesting. . . women have only had the right to vote for LESS THAN 100 YEARS! The Women's Suffrage Movement, led by many courageous women (and a few good men), resulted in the proposal of the 19th Amendment on June 4, 1919, and was ratified a year later on August 18, 1920. It was encouraged by President Woodrow Wilson. Tennessee, by the way, was the 36th state to ratify the amendment. ALL men, including black men (on the heels of the Civil War, no less) were given the right to vote before women. SOMETHING TO PONDER: The first major European country to introduce women's suffrage was RUSSIA -- in 1906!!! ...Fourteen years before American women! . . . Something to think about.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CODY - Tomorrow, April 26th!

In Remberance of Cousin Dwayne. . .

My Cousin Dwayne was killed in an automobile accident on Monday, August 14, 2007. His wedding would have been September 17th. He always had a smile on his face. . .

MY DEAR, SWEET, AUNT CLEO. . .

My precious Aunt Cleo (or, "Clo", as I used to say as a child), passed away this morning. I am so sad. She was such a special Aunt, and a second mama to me. She was a "fun aunt", one who did things with us as a child, and who made us pretty dresses, and yummy chocolate cakes. And, I will never forget her remedy for childhood worms. . . a teaspoon of brown sugar and turpentine, once a month!!! I loved my precious Aunt Cleo, and I thank God that her illness did not linger like Mama and Aunt Rose's did. Life will never be the same for me, without her.

Remembering James David's Birthday. . .

Today, May 26th, is my older brother, James David's birthday. He was only 3 days old when he died, and of course, I never knew him. But, Mama always remembered his birthday, just like I always remember my baby Cody's birthday. I never understood that maternal calendar of hers, until after Cody died. She would say, "Today is James David's birthday. . . he would have been. . . So, since she died, I automatically remember David's birthday. And, by the way, he would have been 49 years old. I think Mama would be pleased that I remember. . .

Mama's Wedding Ring Quilt. . .

Mama made this beautiful wedding ring quilt, by hand, around 1989. Every stitch is neat and even (unlike mine, which are usually machine pieced AND machine quilted). Some of the material came from all of the cousins' dresses and old shirts. Just wanted to share it with you, since Aunt Rose's death has made me think even more about Mama.