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Tuesday, August 03, 2021

An Appalachian Sunday Drive -


That Martha!  (And as it's her birthday, I'll wish her the best one ever!)

She knows just where to take this girl and her passion for historic old buildings - be they restored as this little one room school house - or rough, but still lived in with hope of being restored, or those who have lived out their days giving all they can, but are bound to return to the earth.

This was our Sunday adventure!


Grayson County, Virginia is a LARGE county, and covers all of these way off winding mountain roads that you wouldn't even know were there - unless you had someone like Martha at the wheel to show you the magic places.

Clems School was in operation from 1870 - 1941.

I did a google search on Clems Branch school and found more photos on this FACEBOOK PAGE. 

There were some other listings that showed the school before restoration -  HERE.

I tried to find info if this darling little schoolhouse is now being used as a community center or what - but couldn't. I'd love to know!


Another cute church but the gate was locked.

There was a sweet cemetery behind.

Someone is taking good care of it.


This beauty - 

It's OCCUPIED!

And hopefully on its way to being restored.


Just look at that gingerbread!

This is in the Comers Rock area of Grayson County - if anyone knows anything - can you please share the info?


I was too chicken to go knock on the door.


Wildflowers and old farm equipment.


Just for reference sake - 


Sweet little old country store with garage bays.


This one is returning to nature -

But can you imagine it in its heyday around 1900?

That porch is priceless.

Due to Sunday morning's torrential rain, and the interruption of yesterday's eye doc appointment - we did something we had never done before.

Five of us went up to Grayson Highlands for an evening hike!


At the turn out for long range view photos!


The trails were nearly empty!

But evidently the ponies had mostly wandered off to wherever it is that ponies spend the night.

We were able to see two mares and two foals - but they were a bit further off.  I waited down below with one of our hikers who was taking a break while the more stalwart amongst us kept going up and up to where they could get better photos.

The grass is so tall now that all I saw were heads and manes of the mamas!

Still - it was a great way to spend a late evening.


And as far as this went yesterday -

All is well.

The Macular Telangiectasia is holding its own.  Just a tweak in my prescription was needed.  New glasses are on their way and should be ready for pick up in a couple of weeks.

Cataracts are present, but not ready to be removed yet - so that waiting game is still on.

All in all - a successful appointment day, and I was back to Quiltville Inn by dinner time for some treadle lesson time!

Click to Play:


Look at her go!

This morning came early - as folks started heading out around 6am - some to Kansas (But hitting Paducah KY first!) some to Florida, some to South Carolina, North Carolina, West Virginia and not too far off from here in the Roanoke area of Virginia.

It was a wonderful week!  

As I type this - load 3 and 4 of laundry are already running.

Tomorrow afternoon we welcome the August Quiltvillians and do it all again!

On the cell data at the cabin thing - a new booster antenna is on its way. Hopefully it will arrive by the weekend, but until then I'll be in the no-cell-zone for my evenings, and will just take care of all the internet connected needs from the QPO.

It's like being back in 1996.  Which was not such a bad time of my life at all!

How about your Monday?  What did you get up to?  Anything quilty under your needle right now?


Quiltville Quote of the Day -

This works for me 99.9٪ of the time! Lol! 

Have a Terrific Tuesday, everyone!


 

20 comments:

  1. Those old houses and churches are awesome. What a great gift they are to see. Thank Martha for us and happy birthday to her as well.

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  2. We had lousy cable service for a while and the cable company said it wasn't them. Finally it got to the point we bit the bullet for an outrageous service call. They arrived and the problem was theirs as the squirrels at the cable before it connected to our home. No cost and great cable. I hope the issue is the signal amplifier and easily fixed but please check th cables if the amplifier replacement doesn't work.

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  3. Your last two days of pictures have been in the area where we lived until 1.5 years ago. The house that you hope is being restored was moved into at least ten years ago. It was exciting to see work start, but then it stopped and not much has happened since. It hasn't regressed, but hasn't progressed on the outside. Maybe the inside is spectacular. No community events I know of at the old school house. A statistic I heard on school houses was that at one time there were 92 one-room school houses in Grayson County--I'm thinking that might have been circa 1900 but not sure of the date. Glad to see something is happening to to church up on Flatridge.

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  4. Since I am leaving Friday for Orange Beach I have been trying to get my string pieced borders done for Grassy Creek. 9 more sets to go. Can't wait to get this one off to be quilted.

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  5. Wow! Jacky is proof that, if a group is big enough, there is always someone who knows the answer! Monday I actually gave up on a wallhanging because I didn't like the colors I was using and it wasn't an easy fix. I happily moved on to other waiting projects.

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  6. I finished my Boxy Stars quilt and have attempted a scrappy border to make it rectangular. So I identify with the “making this upas I go along” this morning.

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  7. oh my gosh! the old schoolhouse brings back memories for me! All 8 grades in one room, one teacher who had total control of the whole bunch of us! what a time! So love the photos of all the old buildings. If only they could talk ...

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  8. That "returning to nature" house looks exactly like my paternal grandparents' farmhouse in Kansas! Sadly, that house is long gone, torn down and replaced after my grandfather sold the farm. Thanks for sparking a fond memory.

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  9. Great to see a couple of my friends from Kansas. Can't wait till I hear about their trip.

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  10. Glad your eye checkup was stable!

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  11. Had a great Monday I spent most of the day with my soon to be 16 year old grandson, fun time for me
    I have some log cabin squares going into the stage of finished top. They have sat and waited a long time because some said if I tried to quilt them they would come apart. I finally got the courage to at least try. Things are going very well at this time.

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  12. It is delightful to read about the retreat eras as they come and go!

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  13. I am doing my 2020 crumb blocks into four patches. Then my daughter will do quilt as you go to make the quilt. A good enough way to make a usable quilt

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  14. Many of the cell providers are switching to 5G. My son and I had a conversation this morning that we believe they are ramping back their 4G networks to force people to upgrade.

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  15. Hi Bonnie
    I have never posted anything here. I was recently diagnosed with MacTel. I have been treated for Macular Degeneration for 3 years now. My new dr says I have MacTel with blood vessel involvement and only 5% of MacTel patients have the blood vessel issue. I will still need the injections in both eyes but he feels the damage is done and my eyesight should be stable now. I pray you don’t have bad distortion. It is good to know someone else with MacTel
    Take care
    Rose

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  16. Hi Bonnie:
    My Monday was spent making another little stow a duffle bag, with purple background, multiple colors of Butterflies as the main fabric. The lining is a sagey green w/ white dots, and the zipper trim is also. Now I have one ea. made for three nieces. Now my LIL SIS wants one to match the colors in her luggage. we will get fabric next month when she is here. It is warming up again this week. That helps things grow in the greenhouse. I have cucumbers ready to pick, tomatoes about to turn red, winter squash, 7 cantaloupe (2 different kinds), potatoes and peas blooming, root veggies growing; and all in Alaska!

    Donna
    Kasilof, Ak
    Where it is warm temps, mild weather, but maybe rain this weekend again.

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  17. What a treasure your friend Martha is! My husband was like her and knew all of the great places off the beaten track.

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  18. I learned to sew on a treadle machine way back in the 1950's as a young girl. I bet it is like riding a bike only easier and I think I could do it again. I do like the conveniences of modern machines, though. I remember sewing Barbie doll clothes and to backstitch it was necessary to pivot the fabric under the needle because it only sews in one direction - forward. Memories!

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  19. I get to do the eye appt thing today. So ready. Haven't been able to see through those glasses for 2 years. hahaha. I am ready to start looking for a treadle. I will be moving to Jonesborough TN hopefully before the end of the month. Where do i even start?

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  20. Currently house/pet sitting this week, which is nice, they have a/c! I put my cutting board on the "jetty" countertop from the kitchen and am able to cut my fabric much more comfortably there. Got a pile of strips cut WOF, and then sub-cut 2 squares off each for a quilt and should be able to sew today. YEA!

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