A trip to Ketner's Mill Country Arts Fair

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.  :-)

Chattanooga Zoo

Wow, did we ever have fun today!  I discovered, first thing this morning, that today was free admission to the Chattanooga Zoo.  I told Laura and she said Abi would love go.  I volunteered to take Cora too and off we went.   Cora slept the whole time but I liked having her with us anyway.  At least it gave Laura a nice break.   Her Grandpa joined us after Abi and I had been there for over an hour so he got to be in on some of the fun too.

Abi wasn't so sure about seeing some of the scarier animals.  She was especially concerned about seeing, or rather, not seeing a Tiger.  But we did manage to see a Snow Leopard along with various monkeys, birds - exotic and not so exotic, a Bobcat, a Coyote, Red Pandas (she said, "those aren't Pandas"), a camel, goats, and other animals who's names I can't even remember.

All that was fun, but the real fun began with the jump house!  Oh my, how she loved the jump house.   The lines were short most of the time we so she managed to jump 4 different times.  She would laugh and jump and laugh some more.  She held her own with the big kids just fine.  A couple times she got bumped off her feet when a big kid bumped into her and she would just laugh some more.  What fun! 

The bounce house isn't always at the Zoo.  Today was a special event for the community, including a chili cook-off, lots of booths, displays for the firemen, an emergency helicopter, and other things like that.  

What is always at the zoo is a Merry-Go-Round.  This one is special.   A local artisan is responsible for it's existence.  I don't know the whole story but it's my understanding that he either personally made or was involved in the making of all the animals on the carousel.  He has a school not far away where he teaches people to carve these wonderful creations.

Odd enough, there were no seat belts.  I was quietly amazed.  We're not in California anymore.  

Picking berries

In April it was Strawberry pickin' time. Then the Raspberries started ripening; they come bits at a time over a long season. Now, it's Blackberry pickin' time. They too ripen over time. So far we've picked a whole lot and there's more than that still ripening on the vines.

Yesterday, after work, I was pickin' Blackberries so I could take some to Laura and my next door neighbor came out and helped me pick while we chatted. Then, her friend arrived and she helped pick too. Remember, we have no fences around our yard. It stuck me how uniquely Southern this little experience was (is). Rachel, my neighbor, knows that she can pick all the berries on her side of the bushes (I planted them on the property line) but she wasn't picking for herself. She said she had all we wanted and she was filling up my bowls (4 large ones all together). It's just another thing I love about living here. (There are so many that I'm going to start sharing and labeling them.)

So far we've had Blackberry cobbler and I've made Blackberry jam. Someone at work told me what he likes to so with them and we're going to try it. He washes and dries the berries and then promptly freezes them. Then, he'll put a portion of frozen berries in a whole and pour sweetened condensed milk (or evaporated milk mixed with sugar) over them and stir quickly. The milk freezes onto the berries and it makes a creamy frozen treat. Now doesn't that sound wonderful? We'll see if it's as good as it sounds. There are berries in the freezer now.

Abi and I have Seen Rock City

According to SeeRockCity.com, in 1832, sightseers came and rode mules through the naturally formed streets and avenues of the place they named Rock City. In 1928 Freida began a 4 year adventure of mapping out trails. Garnet Carter introduced Freida's gardens to the world in 1932. In 1936 he began his barn roof advertising. By the 1950 there were 900 barns from Georgia to Michigan and West to Texas with See Rock City painted on them.

It's 2011 and after living here for over 4 years now I can now proudly say I have now Seen Rock City and I like what I see. Abi went with me today and we had a wonderful time. The weather was perfect and she was a trooper. We walked for a couple hours together, seeing water, tunnels, bridges, pretty plants, funny rocks, lots of steps, narrow crevices and even a swinging bridge.

Guess what Abi said was her favorite? (Abi will be 3 years old in May.)

This is a dog friendly place too. Since I purchased an annual pass I intend to go back often and take my trusty friend (who happens to be sitting on my lap right now). Maybe, since it is on Lookout Mountain it may be a nice place to cool off on a hot summer day. I expect it is about 5 degrees cooler on the mountain and perhaps even cooler in the shade of these gardens and rocks.

Anyway, Abi was very intimated by the narrow crevices and low ceilings. Maybe it was the fact that she couldn't see the end or maybe just that it was kind of dark but she wanted to be carried in those areas. She buried her head in my shoulder when we went through "Fat Man Squeeze" (but she peeked). It was a trick to get through that one without scraping elbows or knees but we made it. Just a soon as we emerged she was back on her feet again and ready to go. She would often say "Bye" and wanted to go off on her own. Of course Grandma was always close at hand for those scary moments, like when she found a caterpillar.

Abi wants to go again next week. Next time, I'm taking my own camera (these photos are not mine). As for her favorite part? Believe it or not, she liked the Swinging Bridge most. I carried her the first time. The second time she walked it by herself (with me right behind of course).

Where was Larry today? He was flying in the right seat of a small CAP aircraft in a practice mission. Next month there is a coordinated practice mission with 8 states involved as they prepared for the "big one" on the New Madrid fault along the Mississippi River near Memphis.