Kentucky Quilt Trails

This was actually going to be my very first blog entry.  One of the things that I noticed when we moved here was that many barns had a big quilt block painted on them. When I investigated further, I found that it was actually painted on boards and attached to the barn.  Why?  There had to be a story.

And there was, of course, a story.  The Commonwealth of Kentucky (another story!)  has funded the Kentucky Arts Council with a grant to provide this as regional art.  You can read more about it here:

http://artscouncil.ky.gov/QTrails/Links.htm

One woman began the project by painting a quilt block on her barn to honor her Grandmother, who was a quilter.  Friends who helped her decided that if they were going to do one, they might as well do twenty, and create a "driving path" so people could view them. From there, the project spread all over Kentucky.  

I have taken photos of these along Highway 163 and 90, which is a scenic highway.  The two above are not too far from my house.

The day that I took these it was overcast, so the colors are not as bright as I would like them to be.  I did this about a week after Thanksgiving.

I think it is so enjoyable to go down the road and see the different designs that mean something to each person.  Some people have even painted their own on the barns without going officially through the process to have one painted for them.

I love the idea and think it is so neat!

What is it?

OK, I know what it is.  I think it's a Hobbit House.  It looks about the right size and has a front and a back door.  This was created by the goats down the way, they are Boers, quite sturdy and very serious goats.  They have a few new babies in the field, too.  But I was quite impressed with the Goat Art!

Anyone else want to venture a guess on what the goats were making?

Yesterday and Today

Yesterday we had to make a rescue run to Corbin, KY, to drop off Grace, a very sweet middle aged tri color corgi on the run to her new home in TN.  We enjoyed Dairy Queen with some very dear friends and got to visit for about an hour.  But before we left here, we had to tend to chores.  And after those were done, there was one little chore that still needed to be done.  One of the younger goats had not been feeling well so we had brought her up and put her in an ex pen in the breezeway, which is heated.  Gazelle liked this just fine!  She has had a shot of antibiotic, and although it has been reasonably decent out, the nights are pretty cool.  We didn't want to take a chance on her getting sick in a worse fashion.  But she needed to get back down so we could get on the road on our rescue trip.  Fastest way was to take a ride with Jerry:

She really enjoyed her ride to the barn!  This is how we get Jewel back when she comes up to the house and Jerry has actually ridden all over the property with her.  Of course, this is Jewel, and those of you who know her story know she gets anything she wants in life!
Today I came home from work and asked how the pups were doing.  Jerry said fine.  Kathy was over and she said fine.  So I went into the bedroom to get in my jeans and this is what I found:

Well, yeah, I guess she was fine, just not where she needed to be!  This is Diva and she must have had a good latch onto Tabi and when Tabi jumped out of the box, she must have still been attached....Nonetheless, the little darling found a warm and safe place and curled up to take a nap.  This is the second pup out of the box, the first was the small spot boy and I suspect the same thing happened.  That was at 2 weeks and 2 days, a new record for us, here!  Today is 2 weeks and 4 days.
Here's a closeup:

She was warm and happy but missing a feeding!  Now she is back with the others and I can see that in the next day or two, I will have to make a more secure place for the little ones.

Puppy Videos!

This is Tabitha feeding her babies.  They are just over two weeks old now and their eyes are open.  They have achieved Hamster status:

And here are the babies, just starting to get around and look at things and try to figure out the Big World they now live in:

I hope you all enjoy these videos!  More to come in a few days!

The Dream Home of all Corgis everywhere: Marrowbone, KY

Yep.  It's a real place!  It's about half an hour from here and I told Jerry if I'd been aware of it, I probably would have looked there for a home, too.  How Kentucky, to have an address of Marrowbone, KY!  It's almost as delightful as Buck Snort, TN, which is also a real town.  Ah, well, we are happy here in Summer Shade, which is most certainly an excellent name for a town.  I actually had someone ask me if it was a made up name and did I really live in a town called that!  It is real and is just a bump in the road, really.  They have a dollar store, a post office and a restaurant and I think a couple of gas stations.
Well, Jerry and I took a drive down the road to explore on Thanksgiving afternoon, after the feast.  It was overcast and really a bit gloomy but what a pretty road it is!  I made up my mind to go down that road again and I did, in December, and took some photos.  So here are some of them.
Marrowbone actually was the site of a camping place for both sides in the War Between the States.  Not the Civil War.  Nothing was Civil about it at all.  Or as some people from my past used to say, the "Wahr of Nawth'n Aggression".  :)  There isn't much on the Net about Marrowbone except as a passing mention of this camping place.  Here is the marker that is by the little stream that passes through the town.

Here are some photos of the little stream that was where they all camped.  It's really flat ground and there is a nifty little roadside park there.  I have thought of having a corgi picnic there, with it being Marrowbone, I'm sure it would be a hit!

I can't wait to see this spot when the leaves are out this spring!  The stream at this point was only about a foot deep, even more shallow in places.  Perfect for wading with corgis during the hot summer!
We have explored down the road as far as Burkesville, and want to go further.  I love driving around and looking at this beautiful area.
I do want to mention something that happened here in this town about a year ago, in March.  Apparently about 10 members of a Mennonite church here were killed on I65 near Mammoth Cave in a horrible auto accident, along with two others.  I guess it just devastated the town.  I was unaware of this until I was looking for some link tonight so you could all learn about Marrowbone.  What a terribly, terribly sad and tragic thing to have happened to such a close knit community. I am so very sorry for everyone who was touched in any way by this accident.
I am intrigued by the name and will try to find out where the origin of it came from.
Tomorrow I will share some more photos that I took along this road.

Ugly In Kentucky

I have found that, unfortunately, there are some ugly things in Kentucky.  Not many and I am not dwelling on them at all, because we are so delighted to be here and enjoying everything so much.  But here are some ugly things to see. First is the gas meter in my yard:

First, you would think that someone, somewhere, could come up with a cute design, maybe embed it in a concrete raccoon or maybe make it look like a little moonshine still.  Oh, no.  It looks like...it looks like....well, shoot, I don't know what it looks like but will take suggestions as to what you all think it DOES look like!  And ugly grey to boot.  I may have to go out and paint it white with red candy cane stripes or something.  I could put a trellis on either side of it.  Or maybe just put a lot of decorative stone on it, in my interpretation of Beauty and Freedom.  So I am open to suggestions as to what I can do to hide it.  The winner gets the pint of moonshine in my refrigerator.  Yep.  That's another blog, though.
Oh, yes, it is right NEXT to the driveway where someone could nicely back over it and blow themselves to Kingdom Come. Sheesh.
Here is the next entry for Ugly in Kentucky:

Now all summer, I thought this was a nice little bush in the front yard.  But the fall came, the leaves fell and what did I find?  A stump.  Just an ugly old stump.  So what do I do with this?  Just cut the whole thing down?  Turn it into a birdfeeding platform on top of the stump?  Ugly, ugly, ugly.  At least it is off to the side of the front yard and not nearly so ugly and noticeable as the stupid gas meter.
Last is a gem that was actually in my house:

Ain't it purdy?  Why it was right there in our large bathroom. I could wash a passel of little kids all at once in there, and maybe that is why they put it in.  They call these garden tubs and they hold about 200 gallons or so.  Bearing in mind that I have a 40 gallon water heater and we have to buy our water now (as opposed to having a well here), I do believe it has never been used by anyone.  That lovely yellow shade was set off with deep raspberry bathroom counters (which have been replaced, also another blog).  To my great surprise, we were able to get this out of the house without cutting it to pieces.  We put it out on the road and in three days, it was gone.  Someone, somewhere has 1) A nifty Koi pond, 2) a pool for the kids to play in, 3) a water container for farm animals or 4) something to put in the annual Christmas parade.  For example, you could turn it over, paint it green and with a little creativity, it could be a Christmas turtle.  Now I've never seen a Christmas turtle, but hey, I'm open to new traditions and all.  After all, look at Kwanzaa.  Do they have turtles in Kwanzaa?  Well, they should.  They use a lot of green in their celebrations and I can just see a tasteful Kwanzaa turtle being featured in everyone's front yard for that holiday.
It took up a lot of space in the bathroom and when I have the extra money, we will put in either a bathtub there or maybe a whirlpool.  Now THAT would be purdy!

Our New Church

Yes, indeed, I knew there was a church down here for us.  One that would appreciate all my animals and welcome them into the fold, too.  A manger was good enough for Baby Jesus to come into the world and so I feel particularly like this church would fulfill my spiritual needs.  I can wear jeans and flannel and boots and no one would care if I brought a couple of dogs or a goat or two with me, just like Baby Jesus had.
Yep.  I think I've found where I want to go.  But we gotta get that front door fixed.