
Ketner's Mill is near a little town called Whitwell (pronounced something like "whut wool") in the Sequatchie Valley. The valley itself is a beautiful place; only 3 to 5 miles wide but 150 miles long. We visited Ketner's Mill Country Arts Fair with our friends Gary & Debbie. What a beautiful day for it.

While traveling along the backroads we interrupted a small pig and a kitten playing. We stopped to watch and the pig came to our car with the kitten right behind. Cute. I wanted to open the car door to take a better photo but I suspect the pig would have jumped right in, he was that friendly.

As you might guess, it's history is that of a mill, sitting on the banks of the Sequatchie River. It's only active now-a-days during the fair but the mill was busy grinding corn. Debbie purchased several bags of ground corn meal.

There were lots of artisan there, some quite unique. A working blacksmith, a soap maker with a large batch of soap cooking in the booth, a broom maker who used interesting broom handles including a tennis racket, a shotgun, the neck of a guitar and many different kinds of sticks collected in the woods.

There was a man tatting who was quite entertaining to listen to and watch. He explained each knot as he used the small shuttles in his hands with the strings wrapped around his fingers. He made it look easy and difficult at the same time.
We saw sugar cane being crushed and squeezed in an all-in-one gear & press device powered by a horse walking in circles. (I should have taken a picture.) The extracted juice poured into a bucket which was then transferred to a cooker. Then, much like making Maple Syrup, they cooked it down to Sorghum Molasses which they sold at the fair. I bought some of that and some Sourwood Honey from another vendor.
We saw art of all kinds: stained glass, ornaments, candles, paintings, photographs, soap, rod iron, wood-working, and more. My fun purchase for the day was some whimsical yard art: a giant worm for my garden! He may move around when you're not looking so keep your eyes out for him. :-)
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