Sunday Scripture...

Brynwood Needleworks - Psalms 34.18 - Image Source Unknown

  Prayers and Condolences to the people of Tennessee.  

Travel Day Number One Finished...

Brynwood Needleworks - Morning In Florida

I left Florida at 8 am yesterday morning. It was a nippy 56º when Tag and I headed north. We thanked our hosts, I kissed my beloved husband farewell, and patted Bella on the head. I missed them before we even got to the highway!

Brynwood Needleworks - Sunset In Tennessee

By 5 pm (ET), I was through Chattanooga, Tennessee, and I spoke with Handsome as the sun set over the Tennessee River. My iPhone doesn't really do the view justice. It was breathtaking (and 45º).

Brynwood Needleworks - Stopping Point For Day One

 

I continued on for another twenty or so miles, putting about six hundred twenty miles on my odometer for the day. I checked into a hotel, went to a local restaurant and took my dinner salad back to my room. After I fed Tag, we settled in for the evening by 7 pm (ET). Bedtime came early.

I'm writing this to post at midnight, so I'm likely already on the road to continue my trip. If things go really well, I'll go all the way home. If not, I'll stop short of the farm for one more night. I'll let you know tomorrow.

 

I just realized it's February 1st. Seriously? It seems time flies faster every year! 

Make every day your best day yet. Hugs from the road...

A Wonderfully Nutty Gift...

Tennessee Pecans

 

I received a wonderful surprise before Christmas from my blog friend, Jody, in Tennessee. She mailed a package containing hollyhock seeds from her garden to ours; a delicious heirloom tomato; and a nice cache of these paperweight pecans from a farm local to her.

I placed them in a pretty red and white transferware bowl for the holidays, but decided it was time to shell them so I can add them to my next baking project. Of course, I had to taste one or two as I opened them up!

 

Shelled Tennessee Pecans

 

These can be opened up by hand, but I chose to save my thumbs and lightly use a regular nutcracker to make my job even easier. In the end, I had more than a pint of shelled nuts. I placed them into one of my beautiful blue vintage Mason jars to store until I'm ready to use them.

 

Thank you for your generous gifts, Jody! I hope you enjoy the package, filled with goodies, that I sent back to you last week. Thanks also, for the blessing of your friendship.

I'm spending time with Handsome this week before he heads back to Florida (and Bella). My studio projects and frankly, everything else, can wait until after he returns to his southern commitments. God first, family second and studio third. That means I'm enjoying every moment with him that I'm able. I'll get back to work after the 30th.

Benton County Quilt Block Trail...

 When we stopped at the Golden Pond Visitor Center in Land Between

the Lakes yesterday, I grabbed this brochure for the Benton County

Quilt Block Trail. Are you surprised that it might have caught my eye?

Camden, TN is the county seat of Benton County and it's located near

the shores of Kentucky Lake (an impoundment of the Tennessee River).

The Quilt Block Trail runs all through Benton County, Tennessee.

The idea came about when one of the people who would begin the effort, 

read an article published by the Tennessee Farm Bureau about barn quilts.

 A public meeting was held at the Benton County Library to see if there 

was any interest in a quilt trail within the county, hoping to get twenty 

participants. With a grant from the Tennessee River Resort District for 

materials, the project began in the spring of 2010. This brochure was 

printed in 2012, and at press time, there were over 122 quilt blocks listed 

from one end of the county to the other! I suspect there are even more now.

 The quilt blocks were painted on 4 x 4 wood boards by volunteers and location

owners after their favorite quilt blocks were chosen. There are no duplicates.

 I'm just pointing out a few of my favorite blocks. I had seen some

along our trip route, but that was before I saw the brochure and learned

about this large-scale effort. Although I didn't see the actual block, I 

like this 4-in-1 block for the Underground Railroad Codes.

 I also have an affinity for barns, so the "cow" blocks appealed to me.

 I'd love one with the oak leaves and acorns on it!

 Of course, "Fall Flight" with the goose, reminds me of autumn in

Wisconsin. I can just picture flights of geese over the Horicon Marsh.

 When we got to the south end of the Trace, at Dover, I managed

to get a photograph of one such block on the side of the Regions

Bank Building. This is outside the "range" for the trail, but I suspect

that others have caught the Quilt Block fever and joined in the fun.

 Right across the street from the bank was this block hanging  from the local antique shop building. I really like the colors.
As I looked at all the blocks in the brochure, it occurred to me that it might be a fun project to make a quilt using the same blocks on the trail...all 122 of them. I'll put that on my "To Do List". That will be for another day.
We stayed at Clanton, Alabama last night and will be in Perry, Florida tonight. We'll be home tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it.

The Land Between The Lakes...

Yesterday, we made our way from Champaign, Illinois to Buffalo, Tennessee.

We decided that we'd take in a little scenery off the Interstates and drive the

Woodlands Trace National Scenic Byway, also known as

"The Land Between The Lakes" between Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley.

This route spans approximately 50 miles and runs through both Kentucky and

Tennessee. While we stayed mainly on the highway, there are many things to

explore along the way. They are over 300 miles of natural shoreline, 200 miles

of paved roads, 500 miles of trails and 170,000 acres of forest and open lands.

There are also public camping facilities, horseback riding and environmental

education programs throughout this National Recreation Area. The only homes

 you'll find within the park are located on the very south end of the trace. The

rest were bought (or acquired through "eminent domain") by the Federal 

government during the Kennedy administration in the 1960s.

Handsome and I stopped at the Golden Pond Visitor Center (located about half

way through our route) to go through their educational exhibits and planetarium. 

We also toured the grounds to see their wildlife exhibits and wildflower gardens.

We saw many cemetery signs, so when we were at the Visitor Center, I asked 

the gentleman working behind the counter about them. He told me that there

are over two hundred cemeteries on the route. Prior to the 1960s, there were

many people who lived in the area, but they were either bought or forced out 

by the government. While people were no longer allowed to live in the area, 

their dead were permitted to stay. He told me that later on, contemporary 

family members were allowed to be buried in their family plots. Therefore, 

one visiting any of the local cemeteries might find headstones with

current dates intermingled with those from as far back as the 1700s. 

One of the storyboards that particularly caught my attention was about the

"Trail of Tears". You can click on this image to read the story for yourself, but

it is sad, indeed. I think of the harsh and cruel way our government treated the

Native Americans (particularly, in this story, the Cherokee Nation) and I wish

they had treated all Indian nations in the way they deserved to be treated: as

the owners of their ancestral lands and homes. They deserved more respect.

As we neared the 3/4 mark on our route, we saw this structure near the road.

We pulled into the parking area to learn more about its purpose and history.

In this instance, photographs can better tell the story than I.

I was surprised to learn that there had once been a structure at the top of the

furnace. (By the way, we did see another furnace structure within twenty miles

of leaving the Trace. It wasn't nearly as well-kept as this one, and looked unstable.)

  This is a better view of the entire structure as we viewed it. At the base,

the interior stonework stops, leaving an opening for the insertion and 

removal of the sand castings that would catch the molten ore.

Of course, Handsome took a picture of me so you'd know we were actually there! (I insisted that it was mostly so you'd see the scale of the furnace.)     While we drove, we saw many (shy and quick) deer and turkeys. After  taking lots of blurry photographs, I finally gave up and just enjoyed the view.  If you ever find yourself in this part of the country, I strongly suggest allowing  a few days from your travels to camp, swim, and stop at all the sights along  the way. There's a lot to be learned on this short drive through history.
We stopped for the night at a KOA in Buffalo, Tennessee (located west and a little south of Nashville). Today, we'll have an easy drive to Clanton, AL. More on our adventures tomorrow!

Our Little Corner of Cornersville...

If it's Monday, we're on our way to Jackson Center, OH. However, Sunday

evening was spent at the Texas "T" Campground (Don't ask. I have no idea.)

in Cornersville, TENNESSEE. It's a truly lovely (and reasonably priced) place.

This was a photograph I took of the creek right across the road from our site. The 

light was perfect at sundown, and the dogs and I really liked walking by in the water.

Here we are on Site B. Cooler weather (ahhhhh) so all the windows were

open and the awnings were out for a little more shade as the sun went down.

This campground is about 50 miles south of Nashville, TN, right off Hwy. 65. If

 we were at the Nashville KOA, we'd be paying $79 a night for a cheek-to-jowel

unshaded site - right downtown. We've done it before and I asked Handsome to

 find an alternative because I really, really disliked it. It was noisy, ugly and hot!

This is what he came up with. Full hookups, beautiful site and $25 a night.

Saaa-weeeet!

We'll be stopping here on our way home for another overnight, and it's a

place I'm really looking forward to visiting again. It's picturesque and quiet.

It has definitely made our "favorites" list.

Have a great week! I'll keep in touch as we motor north.

Oh, and please do something creative for me today, ok? 

My fingers are getting a little itchy from not working on a project!