Disappointed

I was getting pretty excited about selling my baskets at Mountain Magic in Fall, a local festival here in Buchanan, VA.

Then the rain began  It rained off and on for about 5 days.  The last 24 hours or so dropped over 5 inches.  Many inches came poring out of the sky in just a few hours. 

 

The James River is up and the carnival grounds in Buchanan, where they hold the festival, are soaked.  So the Town Of Buchanan decided to push the festival back to next Saturday.  The Saturday when I will be in Texas.  That Saturday.

So now I have bins of baskets. Bunches of bins of baskets.  Scads of baskets.  Sixty-six baskets.

I will put them away and wait for the next Buchanan festival.  Or maybe I will start an Etsy site.

 

Either way, I will sell them somewhere.

But in the meantime, there are some other shapes and things I want to try with the baskets that I put off learning.  I wanted to make as many baskets as possible in as many styles as I was comfortable making, so I put off my experimentation.

So now I get to go play around and I don't have to worry about producing.  So, that will be fun.

But I REALLY wanted to try selling them and see if other people like my baskets as much as I do.

Storm

The last few days have been full of dramatic weather.  There has been thunder, lightning and near constant rain.  This has resulted in some flooding in our small town of Buchanan. 

Buchanan's famous swinging bridge may soon be a floating bridge.

 

It is not the worst flooding Buchanan has ever seen.  We weren't here, but have heard 1985 was a bad year for that.  But the James River is coming up pretty high and worrying some of the people on Lowe Street.

 

This picture was taken five minutes later and the water is still rising.
 
 

The road in front of the Twin River Outfitters has flooded and they are moving their boats to higher ground.  Parts of the carnival grounds and the park are under water.

 

The James is swift and brown with lots of muddy water, trees and debris racing down river.  Not a good day for river travel or a leisurely boat ride.

I contacted a future B&B guest who is staying with us and then going out on the river, to make sure the Outfitters will be taking out boats next week and they assured her that things would be back to normal on Monday.

 

The Buchanan Carnival starts next week.  The water should have receded by then, but it may be quite muddy the first few days.

 

The closest tree line is normally at the edge of the embankment down to the James River. 

 

The gazebo in the park is partly underwater.

 

 

The north end of Pico Road is flooded.

 


The people of Buchanan have been through all this before.  Now that the rain has stopped the river will crest and start to recede.  And life will get back to normal!

Mountain Magic 2014

 

This past weekend was the 20th annual Mountain Magic in Fall Festival in Buchanan.  This is a Bluegrass, Antiques and Craft show and this year seemed like the biggest one yet.

 

It has been voted the Top Community Event in the Roanoke Times many times and is really fun.

 

Up until now,  Main Street through Buchanan was closed for the festival.  This year they closed parts of  Lowe Street and used the carnival grounds.  Main Street in Buchanan is a continuation of highway 11 and it is the alternate route for I-81.  When there is an accident on 81, they route everybody, big rig trucks and all, through the tiny town of Buchanan. This is not a good mix with closed streets and festival attendees.

 

In my opinion, the park is the perfect place for the festival. 

 

There was ample, close parking, the vendors were all in one location without having a long line of them, and they were able to open the buildings for the local organizations to sell or make food for their favorite charities.

 

This was also a better venue for the various musical groups.  Young and old, everyone loves the music!

 

The bandstand was perfect and there was a lot more room in front for the music lovers to set up their chairs,

 

grab some fair food and kick back.

 

There are even covered places to sit and eat.

 

It seemed to me that there were more people, but not as many antique cars as I had seen, or maybe noticed, previously.  I used to have to hike out to the end of the town for the line of antique cars and then back to get some great fair food.  That is usually my favorite part of any festival.  This time it was a short walk to al the rows of vendors.  I would anticipate even more people enjoying this new location.

 

Did you get your Buchanan Fries?  No?  Well, there's always next year

Home Tour 2013

Several years ago we agreed to be on the Home Tour for the Town of Buchanan.  This is a fund raiser for the Community House and we were glad to participate.

We were approached to do it again this year.  The house is the same, but we now have a fledgling B&B and Harry Gleason (Town Revitalization manager) thought local people might be interested in seeing it.

We are happy to help, but it does mean we have to get out all the decorations that generally spend Christmas in boxes.  All our kids are coming for Christmas this year for the first time in quite a few years, so we probably would have gone all out anyway.

 

So now we have two trees.  One upstairs and one downstairs

 

This is my favorite spot in the B&B.  A cozy corner to curl up and read.

 

The bedroom is finished and we even put some decorations there, although we won't do that when we have guests.  You have to have places to put the junk we all travel with.

 

In addition to the Santa themed Christmas tree, we have a corner with a large Nativity scene.

 

I took the advice from others and changed the wheelchair vignette.  After Christmas I can remove the Santa hat and the bear can occupy the chair until I get some antique dolls.

 

We put out more decorations scattered throughout the rooms.  I hope the visitors will feel they got their money's worth.  It IS for a good cause!

Lee is even showcasing his truck.  His truck hauling Santa.  The reindeer must be on strike or something!

Mountain Magic in Fall

Lee entered the truck he is almost finished rebuilding in the Mountain Magic In Fall festival.  They close off the main street in Buchanan and have Bluegrass music, vendors and a car show.  Each year the festival gets bigger.  I parked in town and had quite a hike to get to the end of the vendors.  That is where the car show starts.  I heard that this year they had more than 100 vendors.

 

 

Not all the vendor spaces are selling things.  There are also politicians ready to convince you to vote for them.  There are various church groups, businesses, raffles or charities hoping to get your attention or dollars.  All the local antique shops are open and doing big business.  It is fun!

And I won't even go into the food you should never eat, but is ubiquitous at these kinds of events.  This is the first year that I was able to avoid a funnel cake.  Yay, me!  I was unable to avoid a pulled pork BBQ sandwich and most of a cotton candy on a paper cone.  Bad me.  But you must help support the local charities.  It is the thing to do.  All for them and not for me.

 

The day started out cool and overcast.  We got there early, about 8, so that we could get a close spot to all the action.  It was pretty close, but it was still a long walk to the center of town with the music.  As the day went along it became quite hot, in the high 80's.  So much so that I moved the chairs we brought into the shade the truck made. After all, it took me three years of working in the library to get rid of the farmer's tan I got from one year of working on clearing the property when we first moved here. 

I was hunched over by the front wheel and almost invisible to the passing crowds on the other side of the truck.  This afforded me the opportunity to hear a lot of the comments.  We noticed our biggest fans were old men in John Deere ball caps and young boys in John Deere T-shirts.

A very young girl with a high pitched voice said, "Green...and yellow!  Shiny!"

An older gentleman to his grandson, " My daddy had one of these.  We have a picture of him with it in the field."

A teenaged girl, "This is awesome!"  And a teenaged boy, "Nice looking truck.  If I had $15,00, I'd buy it."  He didn't and he won't, but it was nice to hear.

And another favorite, "15,000.  Is that all?"

Lots of people took pictures.  One couple seemed very enthusiastic.  I asked if either of them would like their picture taken to be put on my blog.  I warned them that if they were in the Witness Protection Program, that they should decline.  He did.  She didn't.

 


Does this mean he is in the WPP?

Truck Mirrors

 
Lee is almost finished with the GMC truck he has been rebuilding.  The goal is to finish it in time for the Mountain Magic In Fall celebration in Buchanan, VA.  Every year the town blocks off the road and has music, vendors and a car show.  My favorite part is the food, of course!

 

Lee likes the cars and we walk down and look at them all...while I graze on cotton candy and then healthy food like funnel cakes or a pulled pork sandwich!

If you don't go you are missing out on a fun, small town festival.  And you will miss seeing us with our "John Deere" truck.

 

One of the last things to do was put on the mirrors. I sat inside and Lee moved it around until I could see the side of the truck. 

 

Then he marked and drilled the holes. 

 

So, when you see the truck in Buchanan, remember.  Lee did not build this all by himself.  I helped.

 

No Rush

Here is my advice.  It's free  Take it or leave it. 

NEVER tell someone that there is no rush for their services. 

Our architect, whom we do not recommend for many reasons, took SIX MONTHS to give us the finished drawings.  After two months we started gently pushing.  After four months I was mad.  After six months we took the drawings and ran to the county and THEN found out they had made multiple mistakes we thought they had corrected months ago.

 

Not so recently Lee took the truck he had just finished restoring to get paint.  "No rush, " he says.  We just got it back today.  It took them over three months.

 

There were many excuses.  They had to re-spray.  They couldn't re-spray because it was raining.  It has been raining for months, I agree.  But surely there are businesses where it rains a lot that can still get the job done.

No matter.  Here it is.

 

Now Lee can put the flat bed back on it and free up the lift for other work he has been putting off.

But what do you think?  Do you like the John Deere colors? Lee figured a flat bed truck would most likely go to a farmer and they just love that green paint!  It will match their tractors.  Once he finishes with it, we will drive it to a few cruise-ins.  Maybe display it for Mountain Magic In Fall in Buchanan.

Then sell it. 

But there is no rush.

Off to Paint

Well Lee's mid fifties GMC flatbed is off to get painted.  I would tell you the exact date, but every time I do, Lee tells me I got it wrong, AGAIN.  I think it is a 1955, but maybe not.  It could be a 1954.  Those are the two choices.  Not a car person.  If it works and is comfortable, I'm good.

   

First he had to take the flat bed off.  It is a good thing we have a lift as it would be too heavy for us to lift otherwise. 

   

The truck runs, but it is not registered or insured, so he will tow it around until that changes.

 

Towing it is not an easy proposition.  First, it is bigger than the truck he is using to get it to the paint shop. 

   

The second thing is, we don't use the tow dolly very often and we have to figure out how to work the straps to hold the vehicle on EVERY time.  It isn't easy and involves a lot of holding straps in the air and imagining.  On the other hand, some mental struggling is way cheaper than a tow truck.  Good exercise, too!

   

I can't wait to see the finished product!  Lee is getting it painted in John Deere green.  He had the upholstery done in green with yellow trim, so it should be striking.  John Deere is big in farming circles and some farmer may really want this truck to haul his hay.  I think it would also be fun to go to the John Deere dealership and park it out front.  Maybe they would like it to deliver mowers or something.

 I hope it doesn't sell before the next Cruise-In in Buchanan.  It might be fun to see the reaction from local people.  Lee has a done a great job and now he is ready to start on the 1974 Camaro he just bought.  And, yes, it is a 1974.  I think.

Blueberry Gingerbread

   

Blueberry recipes usually catch my eye.  And I love me some gingerbread.  This one came complete with a mystery, called Town In A Blueberry Jam by B. B. Haywood.  I found it on the shelves of books waiting to be processed in the Buchanan Library.  I couldn't check it out to read the mystery, but I could look at the back and use the recipe!

Blueberry Gingerbread

1/2 cup butter, softened (one stick)
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup molasses This helps to make this a dark rich gingerbread.
1 egg
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups Maine wild blueberries, fresh or dried only.
1 cup hot water

I couldn't find the wild blueberries.  There are the little teeny ones.  I did find dried blueberries and decided to just chop them up small.  It worked for me.

   

Preheat the oven to 350.  Spray Pam in an 8 inch square pan.

In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar.  A stand mixer is the best for this.  I use a Kitchen-Aid mixer.

   

Mix in the molasses.  If you have a hard time getting the last of the molasses out of the jar, heat it for about 10 seconds.  Not longer.  It will get VERY hot and BURN you.  No, of course I didn't do this.  THIS time.  Because I learn from my mistakes...and so should you, learn from my mistakes, that is.

Add the egg and continue mixing.  You may have to scrape it down a time or two.

   

In a separate bowl , combine the dry ingredients.  Then take out a Tablespoon or so and add it to the bowl where you put the blueberries, chopped up in my case.  Stir it all around until the blueberries are coated and not clumped together.  This allows the blueberries to be evenly distributed in the gingerbread and not sink to the bottom.

Add a scoop of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and then a portion of the hot, not boiling, water.  Continue doing this and mixing in between, until everything is added in and the mixture is smooth.

   

Remove the bowl from the stand and gently fold in the blueberries.  This is where you put them on top and bring the spoon up from the bottom and cover the blueberries.  Work all the way around the bowl until everything is mixed in.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  You will need to do a bit of scraping to get everything from the bowl into the pan.

Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  I had to cook it for 37 minutes.  Wonky oven.

I cut it in 9 squares and then cut some of the squares in half.  Then you can have a small piece and decide you really like it and have another small piece.  This seems like less food than taking a big piece.  Don't ask me why.  Gingerbread is always better with a bit of whipped cream or Cool Whip.

 

    

 

 

The gingerbread flavor is really strong in this recipe.  ( "The FORCE is strong in this one."  Don't know why that quote popped in my head.  Maybe because I have a son that watched those movies a zillion times.)  Even so, you can taste the blueberries.  A strange, yet good,  combination.