Great idea.  Looks like the 16 ft Werner I got for the cabin from Lowe's.

  WOW you mean you have to clean those things now and then?           

Quote from: MountainDon on August 24, 2012, 10:03:35 PM
Great idea.  Looks like the 16 ft Werner I got for the cabin from Lowe's.

Thats exactly what it is Don.  I kept watching some estate auctions postings but never saw one listed.  Wouldn't you know that after I bought it I went to one and low and behold they had one that only sold for $45.  I had already bought this one. Go figure.  Oh well it wasn't too expensive .

Yes!  Very nice idea and execution.     almost makes me want to build a chimney.... almost 

Took a break from the projects today.  The chilldren had their annual County Fair to show/sale their 4H/FFA project livestock.   There were about 42 participants which showed Cattle, pigs, lambs and goats.  The Grand Champion steer sold for $2.25 per # weighing 1390#.  Although my children did not place above 3rd place(each) they were well pleased with the outcome.  Steven did receive top honor of Senior Showmanship of all the participants.    Here is a few pictures of the days acivities.

Bath time



Heading to the Barber shop.



Just a little trim please.



Strutting our stuff.





Our rewards.



The livestock sale which followed in the evening paid out approximately $34,000 dollars to the participants from local buisness owners. That seems like a lot of money but in reality considering the transportation during the summer, feed, medication it was more of a learning experience.  A good day for all.

Excellent!

It's a Glad time / Sad time - FFA and 4-H fair time.
Clean'em up for the last time, its the big show time.
Hopefully what is learned there will last a life time. 

Quote from: rick91351 on August 26, 2012, 12:10:44 PM
It's a Glad time / Sad time - FFA and 4-H fair time.
Clean'em up for the last time, its the big show time.
Hopefully what is learned there will last a life time.

Mostly a Glad time Rick.  My Kids have come to realize that it is a buisness and they really don't get attached to the animals as they once did.  One of the judges was a WV University Farm manager who really praised the kids accomplishments and gave a good speech on how these programs promoted the livestock industry not only in WV but throughout the United States. On a side note of him being the Showmanship Judge told my son during the presentation " Excellent Showmanship and he wouldn't be afraid to have my son show any animal of his anytime."   Still have one pig on the farm at least til Mid October before it is butchered.  It will become a shared project between my son and daughter as their Ham/bacon project which will be sold in January. 

Actually the pig kept was in better shape than the one my son showed and sold this weekend.  But it was his choice and when he explained his reasoning for showing this particular pig it all made sense.  He said the bigger money was in the ham and bacon sale.  The physical shape of the pig kept would produce better Hams,thus a better return.  So I guess he has learned more than I give him credit for throughout the years.

He was really pleased when he learned that the hog feed he had been making throughout the summer while working at the feed mill in the evenings after work and weekends was the feed sold to the owners of pigs which won Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion of West Virginia at the West Virginia State Fair.   

I loved the lessons I learned through 4H!

Seems the leaves this fall got a little jumpstart with the early frost.  A lot of the maples are peaking out with the hardwoods to follow in the next few weeks.  Some of the higher elevations (3,000-4,000 ft) are a little more advanced than the valley (2,500 ft). 

Beautiful!  I will always remember the autumns when I lived in Mass. even thought I only lived there from the ages of 5-7.

That's just lovely.The color is slowly creeping this way. 

Quote from: Sassy on October 02, 2012, 05:44:05 PM
Beautiful!  I will always remember the autumns when I lived in Mass. even thought I only lived there from the ages of 5-7.

Yes Sassy they are.  But I have to remind myself of this sometimes.  Take a lot of natures beauty for granted especially here in the mountain state.  We try to have a family function surrounding the season changes to give everyone an oppurtunity to take a few minutes without distractions just to admire what we often overlook.  Yep IMO there is no other place I would rather be.

Took the weekend off and did some traveling to the other side of the state near the Ohio/Kentucky line.  We were invited to a country wedding and the groom had asked my son to play for the ceremony.  The groom and best man wore kilts.  And what would a wedding of kilt bearing groom and best man without a piper





The wedding was at farm which had a somewhat unique water system.  Years ago the family had located a spring in a large rock formation/cave.  They had blocked a portion of the cave which houses the pump and then created a large catch basin to feed the pump area.  I estimated the complete holding tank to be 8'X 20' and approximately 4' deep in two sections seperated by the rock formation.  I didn't get a picture of the complete rock formation but would estimate it to be some 40' high X 200' long.  This system feeds three houses.



If you look directly behind the bench that is a portion of the tank with the previous picture to the left some 20 feet.



This was also the maiden voyage of the pop-up camper I purchased back in August.  Towed really nice on the trip.  The furnace was a definite plus during the weekend with the fall temperatures.



Tomarrow I will have to get busy and get Dogtrot cleaned up.  I have surprise visitors coming later this week. Stay tuned to find out who.

Quote from: Redoverfarm on October 21, 2012, 07:08:45 PM

Tomorrow I will have to get busy and get Dogtrot cleaned up.  I have surprise visitors coming later this week. Stay tuned to find out who.

Photos do not do proper justice to illustrate the extremely great work John has done. 

Karen and I love "our"  new cabin in the WV hills.   

Don thank you for the nice compliment.  It was a pleasure to have you and Karen visit. Sorry you couldn't have stayed longer.  Maybe next time. Too bad the foliage couldn't have waited until you arrived before it turned.  But Mother Nature has her own schedule.  Hopefully some of the other attractions picked up the slack.  You are welcome anytime. 

But we have to talk about that "our" thing.    

Quote from: MountainDon on October 28, 2012, 08:06:38 PM


Photos do not do proper justice to illustrate the extremely great work John has done. 

Karen and I love "our"  new cabin in the WV hills.

I'm diggin it. 

Quote from: Redoverfarm on October 29, 2012, 07:10:25 AM
Sorry you couldn't have stayed longer.

I agree. If our timing had been off by a couple of days though, it appears that we might have been snowed in. But at the airport rather than the mountains of WV.   

Snowing this AM at Don_P's in VA (SE of Hightop)

Quote from: MountainDon on October 29, 2012, 08:02:19 AM
I agree. If our timing had been off by a couple of days though, it appears that we might have been snowed in. But at the airport rather than the mountains of WV.   

Snowing this AM at Don_P's in VA (SE of Hightop)

It is a beautiful place and John has done a great job on it. But quit tellin everbody about it. Pretty soon it will be hard to get a weekend in for all the folks coming from out of town wantin to stay... . Actually you look pretty natural standing there on the front porch. I told John I was glad you got to see some of the beauty of WV. I think it is one of the most beautiful places on earth. I hope somebody will post some more pictures. I would like to see what you saw on Cranberry.
CHUCK

I just checked the weather in Marlinton and it says it is 30 degrees and snowing.

Another good weekend at the cabin.  Enjoying the fruits of my labor more or less.   

I am glad to see the grouse population growing on the mountain.  It has been several years since these have been so noticable as they have in the last couple years.  Hardly a week goes by that they don't boast their presence on the gravel road.  At times you would think that they own the road as they are reluctant to get out of the way.



Good Music Jam on Saturday night.  About 12 musicians in all.  Traditional fall food of Chilli, Navy Beans, Cornbread, Italian bread, hot peppers and deep fried oysters ( Chuck's contribution) was served throughout the night.   I hung with them as long as I could but the signs of  fatigue or a severe cold was taking it's toll so in the early morning hours I left my good friend ChuckinVa to make sure that everyone was put to bed and the lights were extinguished.  But I was up bright and early to fix breakfast for the sleep overs.  Then it was a mad rush to get everything cleaned up and head to the local radio station so my son could play live at the Fall Fundraiser.  Ended up substuting for another band  and the band he normally plays with. So he played two 45 minute sets.  I am glad it was him and not me.  Youth does have it's advantages I guess.

I'm glad you caught my best side !  I know I had a great time. Food was excellent as usual and the music get's better each time. I wish we had a way to record it and Keep it for posterity. " The cabin sessions" I am sure there are albums full of music no where close to a good as what we heard Saturday night. I hope you will continue the tradition for years to come. I really enjoy being part of it.

What a wonderful Christmas present from my wife.  Christmas for us is really hetic but hopefully in the next couple of days we can retreat to the cabin for a little R&R before I have to shut it down for the winter.  Lost a good friend just before the holiday season.  Most catagorized him as a Master Claw Hammer Banjo player who has been playing Old Time Music for about 60 years.  With his passing he will be missed at the cabin for our weekend music session and to the countless people that he has taught and passed his passion to over the years.  I guess my son will have to pick it up a notch now playing with his band. 

Quote from: ChuckinVa on November 12, 2012, 07:18:17 PM
I'm glad you caught my best side !  I know I had a great time. Food was excellent as usual and the music get's better each time. I wish we had a way to record it and Keep it for posterity. " The cabin sessions" I am sure there are albums full of music no where close to a good as what we heard Saturday night. I hope you will continue the tradition for years to come. I really enjoy being part of it.

How about inviting PBS or The Smithsonian or the University to set up and record.  Most likely it would come together better there at Hightop than in a studio.  I am sure you could sell the project as archiving a link to the past and now.       

Quote from: rick91351 on December 25, 2012, 11:54:01 PM


How about inviting PBS or The Smithsonian or the University to set up and record.  Most likely it would come together better there at Hightop than in a studio.  I am sure you could sell the project as archiving a link to the past and now.     

Yes Rick most of the musicians that play already have recorded sessions.  Many including my son are in the archieved with PBS at various times.  But it seems the music at the cabin although less formal seems to bring out the best of everyone.  I don't really know what that is attributed to other than the atmosphere.  It is always a good time.  Maybe one of these days with the right equipment I can capture the sounds ( after editing I am sure ) and make something worthwhile. 

My son was part of a 3 year project resulting in a documentary sponsered by Allegheny Mountain Radio entitled "Passing it On"  The rebirth of Old Time music in Pocahontas County,WV which was just released to all PBS stations.  We are so blessed to live in a community with so much talent and roots to traditional Old Time Music.