Out and About with Bonnie and Bill

Another day and where to go with Laurie’s sister Bonnie and Bonnie’s husband Bill?  They’ve visited us often enough that finding new and different places for them can be challenging.  But as usual, we came up with a couple of ideas…

Laurie and I decided to take them to Grain Bin Commodities in/near Sweetwater Tennessee.  This family operation had opened up after Bonnie and Bill’s last visit to East Tennessee.   Once again Laurie and I loaded up on Caramel ‘Crack’ and “Fire Crackers”, baked saltines with red pepper flakes.

The family that operates Grain Bin Commodities has operated a dairy farm here for many, many years.  It is a generational thing… Now they have the bakery with a patio and outdoor pizza ovens as well as a barn full of decorator items and antiques. 

After our little group did some damage in the bakery…making a number of purchases…we move onto the barn.  There was a nice selection of quality items available.  We were told that they are focused on buying decorative items that are made in America…and then blending them in with the antiques that they acquire.  Bonnie did make a small purchase in the barn.

Grain Bin Commodities is located at 5215 Holt Road near Sweetwater Tennessee.  They are located just a short distance west of I-75 at Exit 62.  Phone: 865-599-9001.  Grain Bin Commodities regularly advertises/touts their available products via Facebook.  Their website can be found at https://www.grainbincommodities.com/. 

Our next stop was at Tsali Notch Vineyard and Tasting Room.  The setting certainly was striking.  Too bad that it was a chilly and cloudy day.  Love all those little hills…actually the foothills of the Smoky Mountains.

This was in early April and Tsali Notch was sponsoring one of their market days…”Market at the Notch”.  Events like this involve a local farm or other large property sponsoring an event where vendors sell local crafts and other products.  It helps the local crafters and farmers sell their products while bringing visitors to the farm…in this case to the Vineyard.

I looked around a bit, taking photos of whatever caught my fancy.  The first structure is a recently refurbished 2-room farmhouse from the 1800s.  It is called ‘The Jackson Lounge’ and I suspect that it plays a part in private events, such as weddings and reunions that take place at Tsali Notch.

The second building is a reconstructed log building that is used as Tsali Notch’s tasting room.  The wines produced in East Tennessee are just too sweet for our northern palates so we skipped this opportunity.  However, it is important to note that Monroe County, the city of Sweetwater and Tsali Notch hosts an annual East Tennessee Muscatine Grape Festival and it is a fun filled event!  You can learn more about this event at this Website: https://www.monroecountychamber.org/muscadine-festival/.

Unfortunately, it was too early to grab a bite to eat.  A food truck/trailer was on site at the vineyard to serve the vendors and guests attending the marketplace event.  This is “Roots”, a food truck based out of Athens Tennessee that serves up authentic Puerto Rican food.  I noticed that they were scheduled for a return to Tsali Notch on May 7^th, so they must be popular.  Phone: 609-849-7540.  “Roots” is on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RosariosRoots/.

The preceding photo shows some of the grapevines at Tsali Notch.  This vineyard specializes in muscadine grapes that are grown on more than 6,000 vines on 21 miles of trellis.  The grapevines cover 35 acres of this 202 acre property.  The average elevation of the vineyard is 1,150 feet… During harvest season, the Notch welcomes people to come and pick the grapes for their own juice, jelly and winemaking.  Tsali Notch grows six different varieties of muscadines…

Muscadine is a grapevine species that is native to the southeastern and south-central United States.  It grows all the way from Florida to the New Jersey coast and west as far as Texas and Oklahoma.  These grapes have been extensively cultivated since the 1500s.

As for this tree, I asked Laurie to take a photo of it just because I liked the way it looked…

Fortunately the ‘Market at the Notch’ was staged in this barn…which also serves as a large event site.  It was too darn cold to be outside in the wind!  At one point, the wind gusted to well over 50 miles an hour and sleet blew horizontally past the open barn door.  Nothing like spring weather to keep us off balance!

On the other hand, if you take a look at the barn’s walls, you can see that the structure was built to allow air movement…critical in hot weather.  There were a number of heaters scattered around the barn but they had little positive effect unless I stood right next to one!

In any case, both the visitors/customers and vendors were mostly bundled up and seemed to be doing all right.  I’ve included just 3 photos of the vendor’s booths in the barn.  There was pottery, baked goods, beef, handmade jewelry, farm products and a variety of other arts and crafts. 

The last photo I took is the one occupied by Suzanne Harper, the owner and proprietor of Udder Joy Farms.  Laurie always has a number of Suzanne’s goat milk based beauty and personal care products on hand at home and she didn’t fail to make a purchase on this occasion either… Note: Suzanne was behind the post!

To learn more about the products that Suzanne and Udder Joy Farms offer for sale, you can go to her website at: https://udderjoyfarms.com/.

To learn more about Tsali Notch Vineyard including their hours and directions, they are on both Facebook and the web.  Check them out at https://www.facebook.com/tsalinotchvineyard/ and/or at https://tsalinotch.com/about/.  Phone: 423-506-9895.

That’s about it for now.  Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

The Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill Kentucky (3)

…continuing with our road trip and exploration of the area around Lexington Kentucky.  We were accompanied by Laurie’s sister Bonnie and her husband Bill. 

This is part 3 of our visit to The Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill…

This is the Ministry’s Workshop.  It was built in 1821 and it was both the home and offices for the 2 men and 2 women who were the spiritual and administrative leaders of the Village. 

I didn’t try to take photos of all the primary buildings at Pleasant Hill.  The village had several ‘family’ groupings.  Each of them had a substantial ‘family’ dwelling as well as a Wash House, Privy, Bath House, a Brethren’s Shop and a Sister’s Workshop.   Photos of these buildings would be a bit redundant as they are similar and served the same purposes for each ‘family’.

For example, the East Family Brethren’s Shop, built in 1845, was used as a woodworking shop where they built furniture and other wooden items.  The East Family Sister’s Shop, built in 1855, was used for sewing, spinning, and weaving with wool, cotton, silk and flax fibers.  Even today, the mulberry trees outside the Sister’s Shop are remnants from the silkworms that were housed on the second floor of the structure.  The sisters tended to hundreds of worms and cocoons from which they harvested silk thread.

Not only were the Shakers at Pleasant Hill hard working, they were also resourceful and creative.  The larger of the 2 buildings above is the Pleasant Hill Water House.  In 1832, the Shakers dug out a spring and installed a force pump for the village waterworks.  Water was pumped by the use of horsepower for 5 – 6 hours each day through 1.5 miles of iron pipes to a water tank in the Water House. 

The Water House, with brick insulation, was built around the 4,500 gallon staved water tank in 1933.  Water flowed from the tank by gravity from the second floor of the Water House to every kitchen, washhouse and cellar in the village.  Pleasant Hill was the first western Shaker Village to have a public water system…

The smaller structure at the right side of the Water House is the only remaining example of a Brethren's (Men's) Bath House.  Many bathhouses had been built to accommodate each gender.  This one was built in 1860.   

Note:

         ·         So just how many Shakers were there at the movement’s peak?  Estimates are that there may have been up to 9,000 Shaker adherents.  Wikipedia lists 26 former Shaker settlements or villages plus a number of related short-lived attempts as well.  The last Shaker village was located in New Hampshire and it ceased operations in 1992…after 200 years!

Shakers were not only as self-sufficient as possible, they were also in business, buying necessities and selling their products.  Hence, communication with the rest of the country was important.  A post office operated at several locations at Pleasant Hill from 1818 until 1904.  This was the second building used as a post office.  It was built in 1848 and it was used by both Shakers and other local area residents.

The second object is a 19th Century mailbox.  This particular mailbox may have been in use in another building, the Old Stone Shop, which dates back to 1811.  

FYI, the old post office has been repurposed and now serves as a Gift Shop.  Open daily from 9:30 AM until 5:00 PM.

I do appreciate before and after photos… The first photo shows Pleasant Hill’s Cooper’s Shop before restoration.  The building was moved to this location by the Shakers in 1846.  It was a single story building when it was moved but in 1847 the Shakers added a second floor.  What a great job of restoration!

FYI...traditionally, a cooper is someone who makes wooden, staved vessels with flat ends that are held together with wooden or metal hoops.  Shakers made as many as 2,000 coopered items every year.  These included cedar pails, buckets, churns and barrels.

I took this photo of an old sewing machine that was on display in one of the Sister’s Workshop buildings.  This sewing machine dates back to 1856.  In order to expedite the process of sewing and speed up production, Shakers readily adopted the use of machines like this.   Similar displays of furnishings and tools are scattered throughout the public areas of all the buildings...

As I mentioned before, the society of Shakers at Pleasant Hill was divided into 5 communal families, with membership typically numbering from 50 to 100 people.  Every family had its own dwelling house, shops, barns, gardens and orchard.  This handsome and solid looking brick structure was the East Family Dwelling and it was built in 1817.

If a horse is anywhere near Laurie, she will find it and talk to it!  She and her sister Bonnie had an up close and personal encounter with what I believe is a Shire, one of the several breeds of draft horse in the USA.  You can’t see Laurie as she’s on the other side of her sister in the photo… 

Laurie took the close up of this friendly horse.

The center of activity at Pleasant Hill back in the day was farming or agriculture.  No surprise, farm critters were very important to the community.  Pleasant Hill maintains a variety of animals for visitor’s to view, including pigs, sheep, goats, turkey, chickens, ducks, draft horses, a donkey, working steers, cattle and sheep.

Agricultural experimentation and resiliency made the Pleasant Hill Shaker Village a model of innovation and efficiency.  Today this tradition is continued via the use of sustainable farming practices while tending the garden, orchard, livestock and apiary. 

Coming from the northern USA, I had never seen okra as a plant, only as a grocery store item or on a dinner plate...interesting shape don't you think?  Okra is also known as gumbo or ladies’ fingers.  This is a flowering plant belonging to the mallow family and it is the most important vegetable crop of the tropical and subtropical regions of the world.  

Not only is it a good source of minerals, vitamins and antioxidants, it has a number of other important uses.  Its juice is used to thicken sauces.  The fiber from the stem of the plant can be used as the reinforcement of polymer composites.  The mucilage produced by the plant can be used for removing cloudiness from wastewater and it is under development as a biodegradable food packaging.  The plant’s oil has also been found to be suitable for use as a biofuel.

I would have liked to have seen this garden plot at its prime rather than late in the season.  Color everywhere!  I have since learned that there are roughly 4,000 varieties of chili peppers in the world with more being developed all the time.  Bell or sweet peppers and chili peppers are from the same family of plants that also includes tomatoes.  They were first discovered by the Western world when Columbus traveled to the New World.

This was one more revelation for me.  These are blueberry cherry tomatoes.  They are reputed to be very fruity and sweet, similar to a plum.  These tomatoes have an amethyst purple color that turns almost black when exposed to a lot of sun.  Over 100 varieties of cherry tomatoes have been recorded with more being developed each year…

And so our tour ends… The Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill is very nicely maintained and it is very large.  Not only can visitors tour the buildings and gardens, but they can follow hiking paths through the 3,000 acre property and there is even a riverboat ride on the Kentucky River that is located 1.3 miles from the Visitor’s Center.

Many visitors go ‘all in’ at Pleasant Hill.  The Inn at Pleasant Hill is not just a traditional hotel.  Seventy-two (72) guest rooms, suites and private cottages are located in 13 of the restored Shaker buildings!  They all have their own distinct character and are appointed with Shaker reproduction furniture, original hardwood floors and great views of the countryside.

To learn more about the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill and its accommodations, just go to https://shakervillageky.org/.  

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Actually Out and About!

Finally we were out and about with fewer health concerns!  We didn’t really do anything new but having had both jabs of our Covid-19 vaccine, a great deal of our health worries have been ameliorated.  It’s freedom…at least to a degree.

So we revisited a couple of places we last frequented in 2020.

One stop was at a fundraiser for The East Tennessee Miniature Horse and Donkey Rescue in Loudon County Tennessee.  We both love horses and we are especially fond of donkeys!  This organization is totally funded by donations it’s operated by volunteers.  In addition to cash donations, they are glad to receive food for their equine wards and, as you can see they also offered items for sale to help raise money.

FYI, we did wear masks as a courtesy to others as did the volunteers…

This rescue operation is located on 6 acres with paddocks and shelters for the animals they’ve rescued.  Typically they have about 35 miniature horses on the property but they also foster some out to volunteers until new homes are found for them.   

I actually prefer the donkeys.  They are generally more curious and I think they’re smarter too.  Loved the goat in the bucket and that rooster is one handsome devil!  

The East Tennessee Miniature Horse and Donkey Rescue is located at 6545 Calloway Road in Loudon Tennessee.  Note: Unless they’re having a fund raising event like this one, visits are by appointment only.  Phone: 865-266-3396. Their Website can be found at: https://www.easttennesseeminiaturehorseanddonkeyrescue.com/.

It had been more than a year since we visited The Burgers Restaurant in Lenoir City Tennessee.  Yes we wore masks when we entered the restaurant but we didn’t worry too much when our server wasn’t wearing one. 

It was really a pleasure actually sitting down for a meal in a restaurant.  It was a very rare event for us during the past year.  The Burgers’ dining room was fairly empty but we were eating dinner a bit early.

The restaurant has a large outdoor dining area and it was quite a bit busier than the dining room was.  Given the pollen season here in East Tennessee, indoors is our choice.  Otherwise Laurie’s allergies would be miserable.

Yes, we know that this isn’t a burger and that the restaurant is named “The Burgers”.  What can I say, we really do enjoy the burgers here but their Fish Basket ($15.00) really sounded great to both of us. 

We’re out of practice re: taking timely photos in restaurants.  I totally forgot to take a photo of our appetizer…one of Laurie’s favorites.  It was a basket of excellent Fried Pickle Slices. ($6.00) FYI, we also didn’t remember to take a picture of a Fried Fish Basket until after Laurie had eaten one of her 3 fish filets and some of the French fries… By that time, I’d already destroyed my basket of goodies.  The fish, fries and the coleslaw were all excellent!

The Burgers also offers chicken, hot dogs, sausages and pulled pork, either in a basket or sandwich format.  This restaurant is located at 540 Highway 321 N in Lenoir City Tennessee.  Phone: 865-816-6900.  Website: THE Burgers - Burgers in Knoxville, TN (eattheburgers.com).

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Stay Safe and Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

A Pre-Christmas Drive in the Country + Christmas Snow!

OK…so I’m backtracking in my search for blogger material!  What would you expect?  We are in a pandemic, which is growing more serious daily.  We are both past that ‘magic high risk age’ for Covid-19 vulnerability and we have been in lock-down except for grocery runs as necessary, take-out food orders as sanity demands, medical appointments if needed and, fortunately we do go on an occasional drive in the country.

The good news is that we live in a beautiful area and there are hundreds of back roads to explore.  The sights along the way don’t care about Covid-19 and they are just there to be enjoyed…

Laurie took this photo of a lovely sunrise a couple of weeks before Christmas.  For those that know us, it was close to a miracle that we were up in time to see such a sight.  We tend to go to bed late and get up late…

So off we went on a drive through the countryside.  We have rivers, lakes, forests, fields, foothills, rocks and mountains as well as a plethora of local roads with plenty of dead-ends and narrow right of ways.

Much to our surprise, we also have ‘hedgerows’.  While they’re common in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, you don’t often see them in the USA.  Also, in the United Kingdom and Ireland, they are planted right up against the road, making driving on narrow roads a real challenge!

Basically, a hedgerow is a fence formed by closely planting a row of scrubs or bushes…in this case of the evergreen variety.  Note: In the United Kingdom, there are still about 500,000 miles of hedgerow but it is only about half the amount that existed before WWII.

We also have alpacas! (Along with their goat friends) The alpaca, like the llama, vicuna and guanaco, are all species of South American camelid mammals.  Alpacas are considerably smaller than the better known llama but like the llama, they have been domesticated.  Alpacas are bred specifically for their fiber.  It’s used to make fine knitted and woven items. The fiber comes in 16 different colors as classified in the USA.

Did you know that there are more than 53,000 alpacas in the USA?  Tennessee currently has just over 4,000 of them.  New York has the largest population of alpacas with about 26,000.  Other states with large numbers of alpacas include Washington, Colorado, Oregon, California and Pennsylvania.

Along the way, as we crossed US Hwy. 411 near Greenback Tennessee, there was this clever reminder of Christmas, a creative haystack ode to Rudolph the red nosed reindeer. 

We stayed off the main roads much of the way…and in one instance we were rewarded with this old single lane bridge over a creek.  Most roads in East Tennessee are well populated with homes and small farms along the way.  Along this road, we encountered no other vehicles and very few homes.

Loved this big old tree with the Smoky Mountains off in the distance!

Relaxing and bucolic views aren't they?  We're always wondering what sights we'll see around the next turn or over the next hill...

Here we have competing tree photos.  Which one do you like best…Laurie’s or my version?  I’m not telling you which photo belongs to who either!

As we headed back toward our home after about 2 hours of exploration, we drove by one of the upper ends of Tellico Lake with its 357 miles of shoreline.  This picture was taken from a lakeside community just east of US Hwy 411.  Nice views of the distant mountains…

…and so ended our drive in the country.

…and then along came Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  I just wanted to share a few photos of a white Christmas in East Tennessee.  The last time we had a white Christmas here was in 2010… Last year we had 2.5 inches of snow in Loudon County all winter.  This year we had that much for Christmas!  It was pretty and we didn’t have to go anywhere.  Actually, when we have even a hint of snow on the roads around here, everything stops and schools close.

On this occasion it did take a couple of days for all the snow to melt.  The high temperature here on New Years Day will be 68F, but it will be raining.  After living in the Chicago area for almost 3 decades, we’ll take rain over a snowstorm any time!

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

👎GOOD RIDANCE TO 2020!😟

MAY 2021 BRING EVERYONE PEACE AND GOOD HEALTH

👍HAPPY NEW YEAR!😄

Stay Safe and Take Care, Big Daddy Dave and Laurie