Tennessee in July - Our Last Month

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While Patty's up we visit the Big South Fork National Recreation Area, something we'd been meaning to do ever since we bought the property. The above shot is at the trailhead.

Here's the view at the end of the rim trail overlooking the Big South Fork:

There are ripe blueberries everywhere off the trail, and the area is rather fascinating upland forest.

We hike along the Big South Fork to go see some falls. Along the way we find a cliff with a huge coal seam:

Here are the falls, pretty modest actually, a little chute of rapids:

We're not overall that impressed with the bottomlands along the river and the trail's sort of boring. But the Big South Fork is a huge area - we'll try different trails.

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Here's us at the 'falls':

Patty finishes up another pair of moccasins, the colors and design ordered by the customer:

We've made moccasins for over 10 years, and continue to ship moccasins all over the world. It's become slightly more lucrative than it was in the past, as we've raised prices, but each pair of fully beaded still takes a month to make. It's hard to put a reasonable price on that.

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In the future we'll focus on plain mocs and DIY kits, though we'll still always offer historical replicas of Native American beading designs - it's just hard to make any money on so much work. However, it's one way we could support ourselves up on the property, so we keep plugging away at it. For a look at our moccasin business, go to Sunbright Originals. There are also several photos of our moccasins on the left if you scroll down.

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Here are some interior shots of the cabin.

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Facing the kitchen and large crank window:
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The area beneath our bedroom loft, where the kids are sleeping for the moment. This area will ultimately be the bathroom:

Here I've put in a temporary kitchen counter where the kitchen will go. It's made from scrap boards and 2 sheets of OSB:

Here is Annie, the stray dog who showed up in May and who has no plans of moving on:

A lot of people drop stray dogs off back here, thinking they'll 'live off the land' and be 'free'. Dogs are not cats. These dogs can't take care of themselves. They'll either go begging from door to door to be taken in, or bond with a feral pack and raid your garbage. Or starve to death.

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Annie showed up all wet and shivering one night and we pitied her and gave her food and water. Then I figured she'd move on. No. She growled constantly at Mishka (who's a big pushover), and tried to keep him from eating or going near the gazebo. We tried not feeding Annie for a day or two, to see if she'd move on - no, she wasn't going anywhere. So we started basically taking care of her.

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Her all-night barking was torture right off the bat. We contemplated dropping her off at the park in Wartburg, but didn't have the heart to do it. We just did not need another dog to take care of at this point, especially as we're about to go back to Atlanta and live in a dingy little apartment. There's no pound in Morgan County, and even if we went that route they'd euthanize her within a week. Especially with her game leg. This of course was out of the question.

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She's actually not a bad dog, good with training and a real tagalong [outside of the all-night barking at nothing]. Our plan for the moment is to leave her here when we go back to Atlanta, and assume with her pushy personality she'll get another neighbor to take her in. We talk to one neighbor who's known for taking in strays but they've got too many dogs at the moment. If she stays I guess she'll be 'free', and up here every time we come back (which will be frequently), and the girls can see her. I know our next-door neighbor would take her in as he's fed many strays before.
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Here's a shot of the cabin dried in for now [I do get that last window in right before we leave]:

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We visit Atlanta for the 4th of July and stay with my parents in Roswell. We actually look at a few homes, as Patty's convinced it's a smart thing to buy a fixer-upper in Atlanta, have a place to stay we own when we're there making money, and ultimately turn it over and with the profit pay off our land in Tennesee, and truly semi-retire. Of course I feel a great deal of ambivalence about this and hate Atlanta - any big city for that matter. It's not where I wish to live or raise a family, even though we've both got guaranteed income there and family.

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For the rest of July in Tennessee we're basically broke. I thought the cabin shell would take 3 months, and it actually is completed the last day in June - right at 3 months. Pier foundation work is more labor than cost, so I decide to start working on the foundation for the sunroom addition.

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I have to take an axe and cut a few old stumps back once I've done the site work and pinpointed where the piers will go. Then there's the digging, the concrete mixing, laying block, etc. It all goes fine as I've done it before. Here are a few shots from different angles:
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I've only got enough surface bonded cement to do 1 pier, considering how high they are. The stuff costs a fortune, is a pain to put on, and is probably totally unnecesary. I may skip it for the others:
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Once this is done, we are truly totally out of money, so I begin digging out behind the barn. Remember last year when I dug out the 10' aisle beside the barn to give me fill to build up the driveway? Well now the back needs done too, so the land is sloping down and away from the building at all points. This 10' swathe is nearly 50' long, and tons of dirt need removed because the hillside is higher here. It is an incredible workout with a pick and shovel, and sometimes I'm working all day in the rain. I dump the dirt at the edge of our clearing, and create a 100 yard planting berm between the woods and the clearing.

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I finish this job just before we leave, but Patty's taken the camera for her moccasins so I don't get any photos.

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We also move the gazebo back up to its pad under the oaks, and totally clear out the barn to get it ready for construction. The next step is putting the upper floor in over the joists. I'll deck it then seal it, and when I have the chance begin the gambrel roof framing.

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As we move the gazebo, it's hard to imagine having lived in this for months, as we now stay in the spacious bug-free rain-free cabin. The first year we were in tents, then the gazebo with the kids in the back of the truck, and now the cabin. That's really starting from scratch.

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Our garden is full of melons this year. We hear coyotes yip and wail every night - sometimes they're so close I swear they're on the property. The power line in front of the cabin which I thought would be such an eyesore, is actually a great perching place for birds, and we can watch them from the windows - goldfinches, mourning doves, etc.

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The week before we leave I make the rounds and go visit all our neighbors. It's interesting. There's actually one young couple from Texas raising chickens and goats.

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When we pack up to leave Annie's bedded down beneath the building, and I don't have the heart to leave her. I feel like she'll stay and die under there. So I go talk to my neighbor's wife, and she thinks I shouldn't leave her, especially with her bad leg, so I guess Annie's coming with us. She's infested with ticks which we haven't been able to eradicate, with tons in her ears, and who knows what we'll do with her in Atlanta.

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On the way down we camp the night on Pigeon Mountain. We go visit our old thatched hut and hike the trails. The autumn olives are in in huge quantities, and we gather a pot-full. The rain begins just after we set the tent up.

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