Third Leg of the trip.....

Click on photos to enlarge....


Okie dokie......here we go.

As we are traveling the ridge (on a dirt road) we come back to the hardtop and have a choice to make....left to Pickens, WV or right to Helvetia, WV......we opt to go left first. Pickens, WV is a quaint little village. At one time it was the hub of the logging industry in the early 20th century. My maternal grandfather was born there in 1903 before his family moved to the Mt. Airy area in Pocahontas Co., WV. Rick (my hubby) loves the post office in Pickens and asked me to take a picture of it, so I will share it with you...




Isn't it adorable?!





Now we turn around and retrace our tracks the 4 miles to the intersection and continue on to Helvetia, WV. This is a delightful Swiss village in the mountains of West Virginia. The story of this area is that logging companies at the turn of the century were looking for good workers skilled in logging. Representatives went to Switzerland and offered jobs and land to those who would come to work. Folks bought their land sight unseen.

OK....last week Andrew Zimmern featured The Hutte on Bizarre Foods. They have a fabulous Sunday buffet filled with German foods. Here's a couple of pictures.....













If you are interested in seeing more of this quaint little village you can check it out at

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/pb/dba35/

After we ate ourselves silly, we dropped down the mountain and went to the cemetery where Rick's parents were buried. After that we stopped in to visit Chris, Aubree and Mia (Nancy was doing the Pharmacist thing). They were adorable as usual.





After we visited with them a while,
we took the back roads home.

It was a long day, but we had
a blast.

Hope you enjoyed the ride!

The drive continues.....

(Click on pictures to enlarge)

OK......let's go! Here's our chauffeur for the day.
He's a good traveling partner......but he is known for driving too slow!! But for today that is not a bad thing. We're in no hurry.

For the first part of the journey we are backtracking down the mountain and returning to the Marple territory. Here is a picture of the little church that my grandfather donated a little corner of land for and helped to build.



It is the Oak Grove United Methodist Church. I thought it was built in the early 60's because I remembered it under construction. Imagine my surprise when I read the plaque to find it was built in 1956.....making me 3 years old at the time.
Jeepers!

We drive past a farm (house no longer standing) where there is/was an Indian burial mound.


It has been excavated and the treasures removed 30 years back....but long ago when my dad was a boy, he and his friend (who lived at the farm) decided to go dig in it themselves. They were not able to make any discoveries before they were caught and reprimanded severely. The farmhouse stood on the left of this shot.


Just a little further we cut off the main road and head up the mountain until we reach Kumbrabow State Forest. It got it's unique name from combining the names of three governors of W. Va. who were instrumental in the acquisition of the land...Kump, Brady, Bowers. We stopped by a little stream with a nice spillway....

From up here on top of the mountain we are afforded a wonderful view of the West Virginia Hills...


We are going across the ridge to a very special place......stay tuned!!

Blessings,
Becky

Mother's Day Drive

(Click on all pics to enlarge)


We took a big drive on Sunday and I thought I would take you along for part of it. Our first destination for the day was to visit the cemetery where my parents are buried. We drove to Elkins, WV and headed up the valley....



We are approaching one of two artisan communities designed and built according to a plan by Eleanor Roosevelt. This one is called "Homestead", but is officially known as Valley Bend, WV


The purpose of these communities was to encourage cottage industries and many different artisans began to produce goods at their homes during the war. One of my aunts (great-aunt) was a weaver in this community. We are fortunate to have a wedding gift that she made.



Here are some of the houses today...some additions, remodeling, etc. There were a few different floor plans, but most of the original houses shared some features that made them distinct at the time.

Some had gambrel roofs, but most were these little cottages, and like my Aunt Neva's house had a detached building for the workshop. There she housed her loom and all the flibberty-gibbets used in weaving. Our family had access to wonderful rag rugs down through the years. I still have a couple of wool rugs Aunt Neva made.



We are getting closer to the mountains......BTW...excuse the front of the car in the photos...I was taking these through the sunroof!
It was through this section of the Tygart's Valley that Robert E. Lee was handed one of his first (and few) defeats in the Civil War. It is chronicled in stories of The Battle of Cheat Mountain. There are the barest remains of the two breastworks from the battle. When I was a child (when dinosaurs ruled) they were very distinct and visible. Now if you didn't know where to look you wouldn't know they were there.


Here's a photo of my Grandparents' house.

My cousin Vicki owns it now. There was once sheep, pigs, chickens, and 2 dairy cows that lived here, too. My grandpa sold 2 cans of milk to Carnation Dairy every day for years. The outbuildings are long gone now....the barn, the corncrib, the hay barn, chicken coop, outhouse, etc. Hours were spent playing with the cousins in the corncrib and the hay shed. We shelled way too much corn, made the hay bales ratty by climbing all over them (and disbanding with shrieks and screams when we'd find a bale with half a snake in it), dug in the pig middlins up to our armpits, and of course broke the bottle of sheep dip in the basement that stunk up the entire house which got us in a heap of trouble.

We're at the top of the valley (Valley Head, WV) and heading up the mountain.



This is where the family leaves the Marples, Snyders, Lawsons and Stalnakers (my father's side) and enters the families of the Smiths, Sharps, Wares and Lindsays (my mother's side).....



Our first destination is on top of this hill...

Mountaineers....most descendent of Scot's-Irish ancestors....tended to put their cemeteries on top of hills. The mountains were comfort to them in life and I guess they liked the idea of being there in death.


I won't take you into the cemetery in case it's not your thing...but
I will leave you today with this last picture that keeps the surrounding livestock where they belong.......



Tomorrow we'll travel leg 2 of the trip!
Blessings, Becky

Mother's Day

This is a different type of Mother's Day for me. One without a mother. My first without a mother. My mother's birthday was May 1 and we usually combined celebrations.

A few years ago we had a big blowout (family only) at my house for my mother' 80th birthday. She seemed to enjoy it...but was probably inwardly having a fit....she never wanted anyone to know how old she was. hehe It was a great celebration, and had a new twist.....we also celebrated my granddaughter's birthday which is May 5. Gigi thought it was a big deal that their birthdays were so close.

Here's a pic of Gigi and Aubree curling their hair. (Click on the picture to enlarge)

Whooooooaaah! Did you hear that???? That was my mom rolling in her grave because I am putting this picture on the internet.

I have tried to keep my mind off of the fact that she is gone and have done reasonably well as I am not usually one to dwell on the negative...but I do have to admit it is lurking there in the back of my mind and I have found myself missing her more than usual.

Enter that good ol sweetie pie that I married almost 35 years ago. We were sitting on the porch this afternoon and he looked at me and said, "You know what I want to do tomorrow? I want to go see our mothers". I know I took in a sharp breath as I realized he was suggesting a trip to the cemeteries. Bless his heart, he knew what I was feeling and I hadn't said a word.
So, it is supposed to be sunny tomorrow... and we will drive about 2 1/2 hours through the valley and up the mountain, and up the ridge to where Mom and Dad are resting, up at Mingo in Randolph County, WV. Then we take a little switch in the road home to go to where his parents are...Buckhannon, WV.

I want to take an opportunity to remember fondly my mother-in-law, whom I cherished and loved. She was a bundle of fun and I miss her very much as well. She was a very special lady.

My own children have honored me already. Chris brought me flowers, candy and cards on Friday. The one from the girls their talented Momma helped them make with their artwork and signed with their handprints. Corey and Cole are going to host both of her parents and Rick and me with a combined Mother's/Father's Day dinner at a later date. Yum, Yum, Cole is a very good cook and I like when she feeds me!

As I think about it, my sons and daughters-in-law....my four kids, honor me all year through, by living as a family that puts God in a high place in their lives, by raising their kids to have a love for God, good manners and respect for others, and a great love for one another. These are all things that I have tried to teach my boys through the years, so I feel honored that they have chosen to continue these practices on their own. I am truly blessed.

For those of you outside the beautiful hills of West Virginia, please know that Mother's Day was founded here in Grafton, West Virginia. It was begun by Anna Jarvis
and the service was held at this church in Grafton, WV, about 15 miles south of where we live.

Add to this trivia on Mother's Day by reading the history of the celebration here

http://www.mothersdayshrine.com/history.php

Enjoy the day, whether you are a mother, have your mother with you, or are remembering your mother.

Becky

Rain, rain go away.....

I am sooooo sick of rain! I know I keep complaining, but it is getting ridiculous. I don't mind a rainy day.....love to listen to the rain on the roof and take a nap. But we have had yucky weather for weeks with only a little bit of sun. Eeeeeek!

We did have a spot of sun around noon today so I took my lunch out on the side porch and enjoyed the brightness!!

I want to show you some items my sister brought up to me that my mom willed me.
Here is the Limoges tea set that came from my father's family a couple of generations back...but of course I forget whose it was. An aunt of his I think.
Sorry for the glare....I had already put it in the china cabinet.

This is a biscuit jar.......probably from the same place
And lastly for now a cut glass crystal dish

It has now clouded over and the rain/storms are nearby. I am going to go quilt awhile.
Blessings, Becky

Odds and ends.....

Some random thoughts and pics........(you can click on the pictures to enlarge)

We had a very busy weekend. I got up early and went to keep Libby and Joe for awhile. Cole and Corey were driving down to Knoxville to visit with friends and I was the "gap babysitter" until Liz came to relieve me. I had a blast with the two of them. Joe must have walked around the coffee table 6 times, laughing all the while. He will be on the run very soon. Libby sat on my lap for awhile, but was engrossed in Clifford and Sesame Street. Here is their Easter picture


Then I went to the doctor. Got some medicines adjusted and decided on a plan to get healthier. Better food choices and more activity including free weight training. I really am in the mood to get going with this.

Friday evening Rick and I went down to stay at Chris and Nan's so we could be there to watch the girls Saturday morning while Nancy worked til noon and Chris went to church for worship practice. In the afternoon, we had Aubree's 3rd birthday party. She had a Strawberry Shortcake birthday. Her cake was absolutely adorable. A family friend did the wonderful decorating job.

Here is a pic of the birthday girl
She doesn't look very happy.....she is emotionally overwhelmed.....there are about 20-30 people singing "Happy Birthday" to her and she is one second away from this
Poor little thing. But she made a quick recovery and the party continued.

This is long enough for now......maybe tomorrow I will write some more. My sister brought me some glassware my mother willed to me and I want to get some pictures for you.

Blessings.....and for those of us floating around in all this rain......start looking for the silver lining!!!!!
Becky