Wordless Wednesday...The Chicken Wrangler

Cowboy Hamp helps gather up the hens for the evening...

 

3 Miles Up, 3 Miles Down

Early last Wednesday morning before light, Knox and I left the warmth of our beds and drove toward town.  It was raining and cool, not quite cold, but very wet.

We drove through Toccoa, not meeting much traffic.  People were just getting up and ready for the day.  We were heading for Currahee Mountain.
As mountains go, Currahee is not too tall.  It's name is a Cherokee name meaning "stands alone".  It is on the southern most end of the Appalachian Mountains and truly stands alone as the Georgia Piedmont rolling, flat hills back up to it.

As we approached Currahee, the peak couldn't be seen.  There was a halo of fog and rain that encircled the infamous peak.  But we were undaunted.  We were on our way to see the special event that was about to take place on that mountain.

When we came to the muddy forest road that lead to the top of Currahee, we saw what had brought us out on this wet, rainy morning...

Paratroopers

The 506th Airborne Infantry Regiment

750 men and women standing outside 18 charter buses warming up and getting ready to run a mountain that had trained 20,000 men during WWII!

This was something that had not been seen for almost 70 years! 

These men and women had just returned from Afghanistan.  They came to pay tribute to the men that had started their regiment.  The men that had ran Currahee Mountain every day, twice or sometimes three times a day as they prepared for the invasion of France.

It was a solemn tribute.

These men and women were joined by a man double their ages.  He too came to run the mountain.  He ran the mountain in tribute to not only all the men who trained at Camp Toccoa but in tribute to one special man, Sgt Robert "Popeye" Wynn.  Wynn was his father-in-law, but as Carl Lowry said he was more like a father to him.  Carl came from Virginia and joined these men and women on this cold, wet fall morning and ran, 3 miles up, 3 miles down.  (Carl was also raising funds for the Currahee Military Muesum that pays tribute to the contributions of the men who trained at Camp Toccoa.)

This is not a paved road.  (Click here to see a video that shows the drive up the mountain.)  The night before we had had over 1" of rain.  It was still raining.  That meant that it was going to wet and muddy--bad muddy!

We watched, in the pitch dark, as the first group and Carl left the staging area

and headed up the mountain.

As they started up the hill, we heard the cry.  The cry that had not been heard in nearly 70 years by this mountain.  A cry that has led many men and women in battle and from the comfort of airplanes.  The cry...

Currahee!!

We all had lumps in our throats.  It was this cry that so many had yelled as they went into battle never to cry again.  It was this cry that these men and women yelled as they paid tribute to not only the ones that had run on this red, muddy,  dirt road years before, but for the ones that would never be able to run this road again.

As the light filtered through the clouds, we watched as more of the 506th marched in their formations up the red mud road.

Then we saw a group coming down!

It was the first group that had left.  I got out my video camera and started filming.  It's what you hear in the video that tells you about scrifice. Listen closely...over the marching chats, you will hear the sloshing of shoes and mud.

We unfornately had to leave before they all came down off the mountain.  As we left for school, I asked Knox if he was glad we came. 

He looked at me and said, "We got to see history today, didn't we?" 

I said, "Yes we did!"

I haven't been able to get those pictures out of my mind.  They are pictures that bring home the fact that there are others in this world who are placing themselves in harms way for me and my family to be able to watch history happen.

It is the footsteps of these men and women that I want to see time and time again climbing this and other mountains to keep my family and myself free!

May we forever here the cry...

Currahee!! 

If you would like a little more history on Camp Toccoa, click here for another article I wrote about the men who trained here.  I also recommend watching the HBO mini-series Band of Brothers.  But remember that none of the footage you see of the men running Currahee was filmed on Currahee Mountain! 

Wordless Wednesday...Our New Guest

Our internet went out before I could get the pictures posted for Monday's post, Our New Guest.

So I thought I would share them with you today...

Knox petting the new piggies while they eat.

Knox answering Hamp's question about the piggies.


 Hopefully I will be able to get better pictures later on.

Stay tuned...

Our New Guests

We have new pets around the house.

Four new piggies have joined the farm.  They have been pulling their weight since they showed up a few weeks ago!

These piggies are getting to be some happy pigs!

We have them in an electric fence around our garden spot.  Since pigs love to root, we have them rooting up weeds and fertilizing our garden for next spring.

Boy are they doing their job!

Wordless Wednesday...Sharp Shooter

Sharp Shooter, Knox!

To Be or Not To Be....

My regulars have noted that I have been absent for a while...well too long some are saying.  But I have been trying to figure out what I'm doing here.

I started as a coupon blog.  I soon realized that I was WAY behind others and I was just wasting my time.

I decided to start doing posts on frugal ideas and recipes.  It didn't take me long to run through all my frugal idea.  I also found that others are much better at this than I am.

I realized that people really enjoyed my stories about my boys and thier Daddy.  As I have said over and over...it's ever boring around here!

But for the past couple of months, I have wresled with the idea of whether or not Frugal Tractor Mom needs to be retired.

How much does a blogs name need to tell what the content is all about?

Am I misleading new readers?

Am I misleading the readers who have been reading me for the past years?

Do I REALLY need to change my name?

The more I thought, the more I realized....

I am still a Frugal Tractor Mom!

So I'm going to keep the name Frugal Tractor Mom! 

I'll keep sharing my family with you and throw in a frugal idea every now and then.  The more I share with you the daily life of my family, hope to leave a wealth of memories for them to share with their children one day.

As I make my comeback to the blogging world, I hope my son will be happy to know that I am now adding more posts to the Frugal Tractor Mom!

I look forward to having you all follow and enjoy the stories....



The Hands

October 4th was my Daddy's birthday!

He would have been 69 years old.

And I still miss him...

It's been almost 4 years since Moma and I held his hand and he slipped away.  I didn't know what to say.  I just held his hand and listen to a nurse tell him how much Moma and I loved him.  All I could do was kiss his hand and rub it.  I didn't want to let it go...

Those were the hands that I loved when they held me.  They were the hands that made the most beautiful things out of wood.  They were the hands that could fix anything.

They were the hands that I looked forward to telling me that I did my best.  They were the hands that hugged me when I needed a pick-me-up.  They were the hands that corrected me when I needed it.

They were the hands that held his first grandson.  They were the hands that patted a colicly baby and stopped the colic.  They were the hands that corrected his grandson with just a touch of his back.  They were the hands that held his little boy when he cried.

They were the hands that I watched age.  They were the hands that I saw become weak with age and disease. 

Those were the hands that never got to hold his second grandson.

They are the hands I miss not only today but everyday....

Wordless Wednesday...The First Haircut

Hamp lost his curls this week...

I'm starting to like it...but I miss those sweet curls and the wild Enistein hair!

 

Potty Training with Mr. Poopy and Mrs. Peepee

Hamp is potty training.

Mr. Poopy doesn't like going into the potty.

Mr. Poopy can't find the potty when there are undies involved.

Mrs. Peepee likes going into the potty...most of the time.

Mrs. Peepee only likes the potty when undies are NOT involved.

Hamp likes sitting on the potty when Moma and Daddy are not in the bathroom.

Hamp puts Mr. Poppy and Mrs. Peepee in the potty 60% of the time.

Mr. Poopy and Mrs. Peepee find other places 40% of the time.

Training pants are WAY over rated!

Mr. Poopy loves it when Hamp brings him to me or Daddy.

Mrs. Peepee has this thing of showing up at the worst times!!

Mrs. Peepee has this thing of showing up in the worst places!!

Hamp likes to see how much of Mrs. Peepee he can put in his boots.

Hamp and Mr. Poopy likes to see if they can use the whole roll of toliet paper.

Mr. Poopy and Mrs. Peepee love the great outdoors!

Mr. Poopy and Mrs. Peepee love to watch me clean the floor...the chair...the carseat...the bed...the bathtub...the trampoline.

Mr. Poopy and Mrs. Peepee don't help pay for the carpet cleaning.

Can somebody tell me how much longer this will last???

Knox starring as Forrest Gump

One of my favorite movies is Forrest Gump. 

I love the part where Forrest decides that since he was a gillizoniare that he would cut the grass for free!  It is just sweet inicense watching him on that Snapper lawnmower going back and forth cutting grass.  He is so content and who can forget the great posture!

For the past week or so I have been watching that scene over and over.

The only thing different is that instead of Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump it has been Knox as Forrest Gump!

Knox found Poppa's old Comet 30 Snapper lawnmower.  He spent a whole day getting it so it would run again.  He was covered in grease and oil but he got that lawnmower to run!

He has been riding all over the farm cutting all the grass he can--even the grass we don't cut that often.  When he's not cutting grass, he's riding around pulling the cart with a special hook that he made. 

This lawnmower has become his own 4-wheeler!  It's not as fast and a whole lot noiseier!!

When I was in the hardware store the other day, Steve asked what did Knox do to get into trouble.  I was not sure what he was talking about.  He said, "I saw you had him cutting grass in this awlful heat.  And then had him raking up the grass clippings!"

I quickly let him and everybody else know that Knox was out there doing the grass cutting and raking ALL on his own!

And it was HOT!!  90-something degrees with 100-something heat index!

He was all excited about what he was doing and didn't even wait to come in when I told him it was too hot to be out here!

As I watched him, you could see Forrest Gump...

...not to fast, but determined to finished and content with himself!

Isn't summer grand!!

I'm doing the Follow Me Friday Blog Hop...

Come and follow with me!

Wordless Wednesday...My Ax Men

My Hubby found his Poppa's old two man cross-cut saw the other day.  Knox wanted to see how to use it...

They were getting the hang of it...

I don't think the blade is suppose to bend that way...

But do you really think you are ready for this one...

Wordless Wednesday: Broiler Greetings

This is our greeting we get every afternoon when its time to move the broilers...

Day 4: Southeastern Old Threshers Reunion

Day 4 of the Southeastern Old Threshers Reunion at Denton Farm Park starts a little different than the other days.  It's Sunday, which means service in the chapel.  The first sound of the morning is the ringing of the chapel bell signaling the start of Sunday services.

We start to go but the church is packed and the only thing to do is stand outside in the sun.  We decide to head back to the campsite where we can still hear the sermon and start breakfast.

After breakfast I decided to walk around.

My first stop was the place where Knox has spent most of his time this week...

the Grist Mill.

This is his favorite place!  He has even drawn up plans to build his own grist mill at home!

He helps Mr. Johnson by sweeping and swatting flies!

Knox just loves being in there and watching the corn become corn meal.

I came in to not only take pictures but to buy enough corn meal to have until next year.  (I'll post a recipe for fresh corn meal later.)

After leaving the Grist Mill, I headed to the woods to check out the antique dealers.  One can find some great things with these dealers.  They bring their wares, set up under tents for anyone to look over and buy as much as their hearts content!

I found some cool stuff...

An apple press that you use to make apple cider with.

These are feed sacks.  There were tons of them!  There were even enough to make clothes for the whole family...

This vendor used part of an old Airstream on a trailer that was their camper!  You just never know what you are going to see when you come to Denton...

After the Parade of Power, Hubby went to get some ice for the cooler and Hamp wanted to ride.  When they came back, this is what I saw...

That sums up Day 4!

One more day and the 2011 Southeastern Thresher's Reunion will be history.  As much as we look forward to coming to Denton every year, it seems like it will never get here.  Once we finally get here, the days just fly by!  It's hard to believe that tomorrow we have to start getting everything ready to head back home and there will only be one more day to fellowship with old friends, to soak up the smells, the sounds, and the carefree atmosphere at the Denton Farm Park. 

The cicadas are taking over the noisy, methodical beats of the engines as Day 4 comes to a close as I wish we had 4 more days...

Day 3: Southeastern Old Threshers Reunion

Day 3 started with Bobby Franklin letting us know that it was the start of another day of the Southeastern Old Threshers Reunion at Denton Farm Park.  As we got up getting breakfast ready, so did the sounds of the Old Threshers Reunion reviving up for a new day...engines popping, steam engines being fired up, and people getting their walking shoes in high gear.

This is the morning of the kids petal tractor pull!

This is what Knox looked forward to more than anything else at the show.  But he now weighs too much so he couldn't pull.  Hamp was ok with weight but his leg can't reach the petals.  That meant that this would be the first year in 8 years that we didn't have a child in the petal tractor pull.

We did have friends whose kids were in it. So we headed to watch Silas and Sheldon petal!

They were both in different weight groups.  Sheldon in the upper end of his weight group and Silas in the lower end of his.

I didn't get a great picture, but you can see the petal tractor is hooked up to a shed that has weight in it.  As the kids petal down the track, the weight moves up the ramp causing the shed to be heavier and heavier to pull.

This year Sheldon came in first place in his weight class while Silas was second.

The cool thing was that all the first place winners got to put their name in to be drawn for a new petal tractor!  Sheldon didn't win the petal tractor but he got a really cool trophy.  Hamp really liked it!

It got hotter as the day went on and we caught our neighbor JB cooling it under the trees behind the grist mill after lunch.

He said he was resting but we know we heard him snoring!!

Today was the day I headed to the General Store to get a bottled Coke with hoop cheese and crackers!  This is the best treat!  The General Store is a classic store that would have been in every small town.

It has a post office that is open during the Southeastern Old Threshers Reunion.  It is run by the US Post Office. 

Each year they have a new cancellation stamp that some folks collect each year by mailing themselves a post card from the Reunion.

I just love going in the General Store.  It reminds me of being a little girl and going with my Daddy to the local store and getting a Coke.  You just can't beat the atmosphere here...

Hubby joined in a new contest at the Old Threshers Reunion...the wrench throw.  Now this is not a little wrench, but a 30 pound wrench!  He did pretty good but alas was not good enough.  But he did have fun...

Day 3 ended with the graceful, powerful horse pull.  Even though there is some type of pull (lawnmower, antique tractor, or modified tractors), I really enjoy watching the big work horse teams pull the sled.

These horses are big, beautiful and just plain old powerful!!

They pull a sled that is sometimes double their weight.  They have to pull in unison to have a successful pull.  This is just something you have to watch to truly appreciate...

As the music hall closes down for the night, the cicadas and crickets take over the Old Threshers Reunion daily sounds letting us know that Day 3 is coming to a close.  Tomorrow comes quickly....

Wordless Wednesday...Frozen Boy

The alarm on the new refrigerator went off the other day.  When I went to investigate, this is what I found...

Day 2:Southeastern Old Threshers Reunion

Day 2 of the Southeastern Old Threshers Reunion found us waking up with all our blankets on us.  The night before was a cool one causing us to wake up in the middle of the night looking for more covers.  It was a refreshing morning to wake up to a nice cool breeze in July!

It was the sound of steam engines being fired up and the voice of Bobby Franklin, the announcer for the Threshers Reunion, that told us that Day 2 had started.

Once we ate and cleaned up from breakfast, Hubby was off to the annual auction.  Every year at the Southeastern Old Threshers Reunion at Denton Farm Park in Denton, North Carolina, United Country Auctions takes in items to be auctioned one day during the Reunion.  We have gotten some really great items (click here to read about one of them) so we always try to take it in.

This year Hubby and I found that there were a large number of corn shellers to be auctioned.  He looked them over and thought he would just see what they would go for and maybe try to get one.  It wasn't going to be the end of the world if we didn't get it.

Later on in the day I got a call.  This is what we are bringing home...

An International Corn Sheller...

and two motors for parts.

While Hubby was at the auction, Hamp and I headed to the craft barn.  Here is where numerous artisans have booths where you can watch them create and buy their wares.

Hamp was fascinated by the carvers.

He wasn't too sure about the Cat with the Fish.

But he really did like the camel!

I really like the double eagle.  The man was craving these eagles out of one piece of walnut.  He told us that this was his third year working on this piece.  He works on it only at the Old Threshers Reunion and that he would have it finished by the end of the show this year.

Hamp and I walked around some and found some more really neat stuff...

a Mason jar on a glass candle stick..."Redneck Wine Glass".

Pixie Sticks that you put in the ground that can hold your drinks and snacks.

These were some really cool creations made from different types of glassware.  They were so neat!  I just wish that guy hadn't got in the picture.  I told two pictures and he was in both!

This is just a drop in the bucket of the craft vendors at this years Southeastern Old Threshers Reunion!  Hamp and I getting even get to half of them today...but there is always tomorrow...

As the day started to wind down, the crickets and cicadas took over the sounds of the day. We got ourselves and the boys washed up and settled down for another restful night in Denton.  Tomorrow holds more adventures...