A Small Ramble with some good luck

Dad and I decided to go get peaches again on Saturday since we are down to the last few types that are available at Saunders.  They have already started harvesting apples but our taste buds just wanted a few more peaches!  As we were passing through Lowesville (tiny town) they were having a town yard sale.  It was great fun and we got a great, new chandelier for the new Alumni house that the school is fixing up and a brand new old table for us!  It is a great table and after we pick it up I'll post some pictures.  We also had Brunswick stew made in a large kettle and amazing baked goods.  While at the baked goods stand they mentioned that the rest of their group was over at Nellie's Ford because they too were having a town yard sale.  Woohoo!  So, after going to Saunders we headed for Nellies's Ford but we took a wrong turn and ended up....way up...on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We stopped at the visitor center to see how to get down to Nellies Ford and discovered that it was the 75th anniversary of the Parkway and there were interpreters on the "typical Blue Ridge Farm" circa 1890. We had a great time exploring and learning.  Here is the cabin and our "homeowner" with me.  9 people lived in this cabin and it is an originial cabin (moved to this spot but put on the old homes foundation).  There was a loft for the kids and Mom and Dad and baby slept downstairs.

Here is me getting istructions on how to make a broom

You make it using broom corn that you comb the seeds out of.  There are different styles for tying them and we even saw a mop that was made from the heart of the hickory tree with the layers peeled back.  It gets soft when wet! Ingenious (necessity the mother of invention?)

Here is the garden:

It has tobacco, they would have raised enough for themselves and some to trade:

Sorghum from which they squeezed the sap out of the stalks and made molasses:

and broom corn from which they made the brooms:(Dad grew some of this in Oregon)

Here's the hen house,

Barn and Pig Stye.  The hogs ran wild in the woods with all the neighbors hogs and then they brought them in to let the fat harden so it was usable before they slaughtered them. The X contraption you see was a device to keep the bears out.

The spring house for keeping things cool.  An earthquake has moved the spring

There was a root cellar and a few other things to see but this last picture is dad eating an apple he took from the tree behind him!(don't ask how I felt about that!)
It turned out to be a very fun day and we capped it off at night by attending the university's production of "Songs for a New World" which has some great songs in it!
The weather has been amazing and we are beginning to see the leaves start to change.  Sorry about the rain in Oregon! (people here aren't too happy about our drought though).