wagon train

We made it to Mills River around 3. We found are usual spot and set up camp.
We wanted to eat dinner and get everything set up before it got dark and cold. We had ribs, polish sausages, and kabobs. Then it started to get dark the Bear, Ho, Tim, Ra, and the girls came out to eat and bring us wood, water, and grape. We went to the raffle and annual meeting (we did not win anything) paid our dues (so we could do this all again next year).
We had hot homemade cider and smores. It was great to see everyone. But as the sun went down it got colder and colder. They all left and Dusty went to hear the band and do a little dance. The girls went to sleep and Donny and I stayed around the fire. Everyone started to head back to their areas around midnight. It got quite and I watched the stars by the fire. Around 1 I couldn't take it anymore and went to bed. After a few hours of sleep I got up and everything was frozen. There was more than just frost on the pumpkins. We started breakfast with hot coco. We had biscuits and sausage gravy. Ok, the biscuits were not homemade the Bear brought them to me Saturday night. Dusty took one look at them and know they were not fresh made but they were good. We hung around and enjoyed the sunrise and the warmth from the sun. We loaded the wagon and started to head out toward home late Sunday afternoon. After we got home we started our own tradition. The girls had a few cans of silly string to thank Dusty for all he did for us. We made it through and really enjoyed it all. There is only 352 more days until next year. Some say we are crazy but it means so much to know that Lewis, Donny, and so many others from our family have done this. It is like a family tradition. The girls love it and we like being the next generation doing it.

we made it through the weekend

The wagon train has come and gone. It was a great time and we have all unfrozen now.
We left out of the farm Friday afternoon.. we meet at the fireman's camp so we could leave at 4:oopm. We went down 191 blocking traffic for miles. The first night we camped in Lake Powatan. We stayed at site 88. The whole gang ate BBQ for supper. We go down to the meeting place after the dinner bell rings. Marty makes the best sauce. Then after dinner the girls made banana boats over the grill. They were great. We pulled out the the marshmallow shooter and hit Dusty a few hundred times. The girls went to sleep and Dusty & I sat up talked and had a few drinks to keep us warm. It wasn't really cold but it did rain a little. Saturday we got up and enjoyed a wagon cooked meal.
After eating eggs, sausage, hash brown, and bacon we had to load everything back in the wagon. We all lined up for the ride over the mountain around 10.

There were 53 wagons this year. We rode the dirt road for over 5 hours. You ask..what do you do for that long? While you look at the view, sleep, or read.

About 1 we stoped to eat lunch. You eat on the road and just set up your tables and start fixing lunch. We had sub sandwiches with chips and dip.

this coming weekend

If you don't hear from us the rest of the week or weekend we are fine just enjoying the good life. The wagon train is this weekend. The wagon is in the shop ready to be packed, the girls and I have made the menu for the weekend, and now we are praying it will not rain Friday like the weatherman says. You know only fools and yankees predict the weather and I am neither. This annual tradition is celebrating it's 44th year this year. Many of our family members have been on this train. It is great to have the girls enjoy it so much. They are not aloud to bring their IPODS or gameboys, just board games, a pack of cards, and a good book. Dusty will be driving the tractor and Jenna will be cooking. This will be our 3rd year to sleep out there. Here is a before picture and after picture of what our wagon look liked from last year. Donny, Dusty, and HO did a great job..all I did was hand them whatever they said to and to stay out of their way. So say a prayer that it will not rain (or snow) and the biscuits will raise this year.

CROP walk

The girls and I did the CROP walk downtown Sunday afternoon with some of our fellow church members. We got there right after church, at 1pm and was told we could register but the walk did not start until 2. So, we all went to Fuddruckers to eat lunch. After we ate we looked down at our watch and it was past 2. Sara had the map to where we were going to walk and the route was going to go right by us so we waited until the crowd came by and we joined the walk. We sat there and eat our cookies waiting. We had a great time. We talked, laughed, and walked over a mile to help feed the hungry. We needed to walk because we were to full!

Harvest Sale

The church had it's annual harvest sale last weekend. This is the only place that you can pay over $130.00 for a pound cake, oh coarse it is Mary Brinson's recipe. The girls said anything with liquor this year brought over $100.00...like rum cakes or blackberry wine bread. It is so much fun the auctioneer starts and it is hard to keep up and I thought us Carolina people talked slow. We did get involved in the big mess this year. Warren, the preacher, took Mary Louise's Tarheel tag of the front of her car, to sell it for the sale. See he is a big Duke fan and they are always going at it. So, during the day someone..who will remain unnamed for safety reasons..took Warren's back tag to be able to trade it for Aunt Lou's. The girls were so excited that when the tarheels tag came up they bid on it and won...I am not even a carolina fan...but I have it. Then Mary Louise said the next item up was this lovely NC license car tag..and Warren's mouth dropped. He didn't have the other tag to trade because the girls bought it for $25, he had to pay $55 for his own tag back. The sermon for Sunday was to finish the race but make sure you have all your needed stuff to finish the race completely..like to keep the tag you stole because you might need it to trade for your own. It was so funny. This year we added a BBQ and some actives before the auction. We were the activities. We furnished the petting zoo and had a kids craft table to keep all the kids busy. We brought Pumpkin the turkey, Alex the rabbit, Boots and Timmy the kittens, Trixie the goat, Eva and Charlie the puppies. Ho loaded all of the animals up in his motorcycle trailer and we headed to the church. Just for your information the kittens tried to run away and the turkey sang with the blue grass singers. It was a beautiful day and it was filled with great fellowship new and old. The church raised a good amount of money.

more hay

The bottom lots are finally done. Not much to bale, because of no rain, but at least we have something to feed the animals this winter. This is a picture when we were down near Papa's (David's).

pictures of Sam's program

Sam's 3rd grade class had a Japanese program last week. They sang songs and read poems about the county. Here are some pictures from the show.

TGIF

The week has finally ended. It has been a crazy week. Monday Tori had a volleyball game. Tuesday we picked hay. Wednesday it was our turn to cook dinner at church. Thursday Sam had a program. Friday was the funniest. We had a vet appointment to see if Daisy was pregnant. So, Doc Beverley came by this afternoon and she did a sonogram. First we had to catch the pig. After a few failed tries the snot catcher was brought out. Daisy did not like this. Beverley got the machine ready while her asst Amanda held the head and front feet while I held the back feet. There was no pickled feet just a lot whining and squeaking. After 20 minutes there was no sign of piglets, but Amanda found out that a pig can bite you. I will have to buy another box of dog biscuits to make Daisy like me again. It is good that she is not PG...we did not know what she could have been breeded with. I guess we would have had to taken her to the Morey show to find out who the daddy pig was. It was just sad that we would not have any babies snorting around right now. But that is ok...we will have a piggy farm someday. This little piggy is tired so I'm going to bed. We have the church's harvest sale tomorrow. I went wee wee wee all the way to bed.

life on the farm

We got Dylan yesterday evening. The girls loved him and even Ho thought he was neat looking. He snorted and even was learning how to walk on a leash a little. But this evening we were headed out to church and Dylan had passed away. We left him in his new home around 4 and by 6 he had passed. I am sad because I always wanted a pig but it hurts for me to see the girls upset. But like Sam said everything happens for a reason. We got to enjoy his littleness for day and show him some love. Ho did the service. After it was all done, the pastor called to see if we were coming to church and I told him what happened and he asked if we wanted him to come down and say a few words. I said no my Dad had already done that. As I sit here now I wonder what he would have said. Sam wanted to know if we sang This little piggy song. It is a sad day on the farm. Godspeed little pig! new animals are born and other die but it never gets easier....

Saturday

The girls, the Bear and I went to a few rummage sales today. We had a great time and found some good deals. After that we dropped off the girls to Ho and the Bear and I went to get our flu shots, so we are good for 3 more months. During the afternoon the boys cut and fluffed hay. Then we had a late delivery. The piggies showed up. Kim's 2 and our one. That is all we did today. This is the only weekend we are free for the month of October so we enjoyed the warmth and played around the farm. We are staying away from Asheville on Sunday. The presidential circus is in town. Obama is here and we are staying away.

Movie Night

here is Sam and her best friend Pam
Sam's school show an outside movie Friday night. We saw Finding Nemo. We got our lawn chairs and blankets and had a great time. They served hot dogs, nachos, popcorn, and hot chocolate. We needed the hot chocolate when the sun starting to go down. It was in the low 50's and it felt cold. But we keep swimming!!!

Hay season

Even with the little rain and no growth on the hay the guys have started to cut the fields. It will take a few days but we pray for lots of bales. They said if we don't cut it this season it will be a big mess come spring next year.