Blind Pig & The Acorn

Is 2011 Really Over?

Seems like only yesterday I was looking back over the year of 2010. I really enjoyed the year in review post I did last January-so I decided 2011 deserved a look back too.

Once again I was amazed at the posts I had totally forgotten about. As I looked back through the year-the posts below were the ones that caught my eye (if you want to read any of the them-just click on the words in orange).

January 2011

• The month of January was all about make do cooking-you know the dishes you make when the groceries are mostly gone and payday is still a few days away. We ate light bread, pinto beans, Granny's homemade potato chips, cornbread and milk, and we even made microwave popcorn in a paper lunch bag.

February 2011

• Since we'd been making do with food-I started February off with a song about making do: Poor Man. Me and Pap are still crazy about that song. February was also the month I started my photo series Appalachia Through My Eyes. I worried myself to death over the series-I have a tendency to want things to turn out exactly as I planned them. The photo series didn't turn out exactly like I wanted it too-but I think it's been o.k. My plans were to do the series for a year and then move on to something else-but I've grown quite fond of it. I think I'll continue with the series Appalachia Through My Eyes-but I won't worry about it near as much.

March 2011

• March was a busy month-we made biscuits, swung on grapevines, burned the garden, and marveled at the maple blooms of spring. 

April 2011

• Another busy month-full of the unlikely duo of dancing and ramps. Me and the girls made the trek back to Berea KY to celebrate the 75 Anniversary of the Mountain Folk Festival, and Charles Fletcher took us all on a Ramp Tramp.

May 2011

• The beginning of May brought me a greenhouse, the least May Pole Dancer, and the story of Maggie Collett Martin. The middle of the month was tasty with Granny's Biscuits and chocolate gravy. May was also the month our 3rd Annual Planting By The Signs Test sponsored by Hometown Seeds got started-and I'm ashamed to say I haven't even shared the results with you yet-and it's almost time to start another test!

June 2011

• The Blind Pig Family went back in time and took you along for the ride. Pap showed us how to string greenbeans, and 2 Blacksmiths moved into my house.

July 2011

• Granny showed us how to make kraut in the jar, I learned a little more about Fred O. Scroggs (a fellow Brasstownian) by way of David Anderson, and as the corn began to come in we went with Pap to the cornfield.  

August 2011

• This was the month my Ola Belle Reed and Little Cataloochee Baptist Church project came to fruition-with the story of Cora Lee Mease and the video of Undone In Sorrow. Other highlights from the month included going back to Hazel Creek with my good friend Mildred Johnson and telling you about the old biddies-better known as Queens of the Meadow.

September 2011

• As fall of the year arrived we had wild hazelnuts, pawpaws, chinquapins, molasses bread and pear preserves to eat. September also brought us the fun Week Of the Crow with posts like Uncle Joe's Pet Crow and Crows on the Ridge.

October 2011

• My Spooky October Series made another showing during 2011. The series was full of spooky tales from Blind Pig readers and a special edition Spooky Appalachian Vocabulary Test.

November 2011

• We started the month out with a sweet smelling plumgranny then filled our bellies with Granny's Pumpkin Bread and a batch of lunchroom cookies. After catching a ride on a North Wind we finished out the month with a well written essay about the Leaves of November.

December 2011

• The month of Christmas started off with a heartwarming story about a pocket knife and ended with Interesting Weather Lore to guide us through the forecast for the coming year. Along the way, were 2 sweet voices singing O Beautiful Star of Bethlehem.

When I try to pick a favorite post for the entire year-its impossible. But the story of Cora Lee Mease and the video for Undone In Sorrow would be hard to beat out of the top 5 for me. How about you-did you have a favorite Blind Pig & The Acorn post for the year 2011? Maybe one I mentioned above-or one I failed to mention?

I'm giving away another digital download of my book today-if you missed the new book hoopla go here to read about it. All you have to do to be entered in the giveaway is-leave a comment! The giveaway ends Friday Jan 6th.

2011 was a great year for the Blind Pig & the Acorn-and I know 2012 will be too. I hope you stick around for the ride!

Tipper

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Coming Soon

 
I'm excited about a few things that are upcoming on the Blind Pig-and thought I'd take a few minutes to tell you about them.

 
First up-the John C. Campbell Folk School's Fall Festival is just around the corner-the first weekend in October. The girls will be clogging both days-and the Blind Pig Gang will be performing too. I'll be giving away 2 sets of free passes between then and now-so if you live close enough to come-be watching for the giveaway.

Have you noticed the new graphic over on the top right of this page-the one that says "Come Cook With Me?" I still can't believe it myself-but I'll be Co-teaching an Appalachian Cooking Class next Spring at the Folk School. I'd love for you to come if you could-you can click on the photo for more details.

 
Second: Do you have a favorite bird? I do-its a Crow. Don't ask me why-but for some reason I have always liked them (don't tell my older brother Steve-he'd never understand). Earlier this summer I heard 2 delightful stories-true stories about crows. I decided I had to share them with you-but why stop at 2 there has to be more crow stories out there. Got one? Send it to me at tipper@blindpigandtheacorn.com and you can be part of the week of the crow. Maybe you don't have a story-but you have a photo-then by all means send me the photo-and you can be part of the week too.

 
Third: If you've been a Blind Pig reader for a while-you may remember a few years ago I hosted a Spooky October Series-I'm bringing the spooky series back for this October. So if you've got a spooky story-and would like to be part of the series send it to me at tipper@blindpigandtheacorn.com. If you have a blog and want to post it on your site-go for it. Grab my picture above-and let me know when you post it and I'll send folks your way.

 

Fourth: Last but not least-actually the most important to me. It's all about you. Several weeks ago my number of subscribers went above the 1,000 mark. I still can't believe that many folks are interested in what I have to say. But I can believe that many people-and more care about Celebrating and Preserving the Rich Culture and Heritage of Appalachia-and that makes me very happy!! Since we typically think of the month of November as being the month of Thanksgiving-the entire month will be full of giveaways-for you the readers of the Blind Pig. To enter any-and all of them-all you have to do is be a Subscriber and leave a comment-thats it. What will they be? Well hmmm. I'm sure they'll be some cds, a little folkart, and some other great items. And hey-if you want to donate something or sign on as a sponsor for the giveaway month-that would be super! Just email me at tipper@blindpigandtheacorn.com and tell me what your thinking.

Whew-sounds like I'm going to be busy for the next few months-I sure hope you all will stick around for the ride.

Tipper

p.s Oh and one more thing-if you' don't have plans-you should so try and attend the Folk Art Center's Heritage Weekend on Sept 17-18. For more details go here.

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The Blind Pig Gets Interviewed

 
I was recently interviewed by the Writers Circle-click here to read it. If you're a writer-you should check out the Writers Circle's writing tips-and if you live in the Western NC/North GA area you should for sure check out the classes.

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Hope you enjoyed reading about why and how I started the Blind Pig & The Acorn.

Tipper

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Happy New Years

 
This is the time of the year most folks figure out what they need to change in their lives and make a renewed effort to do so in the coming year-makes me think of wiping the slate clean and starting fresh.

While I'm not one to make New Year's Resolutions (not that I don't need to) I do like to look back over the year that's gone and remember-especially when I think about the Blind Pig.

Over the last few days, I've been looking at all the different subjects I've written about during 2010. I've been surprised at the things I'd forgotten. I felt kinda overwhelmed when I looked at the posts as a whole-so I tried looking at them month by month and seeing what jumped out at me. (if you want to read any of the past posts-just click on the words in orange)

January

• I was wrapping up my series of posts about hog killing. One of my favorites was Granny and Pap rendering lard. January was also the month Arley Phillips died-better known as The Wild Man of Cataloochee. The post about Mr. Phillips stands out-because he was a legend that was true-and now he's gone. January was also the month the Blind Pig Gang was singing Merle Haggard's Silver Wings. I still think Merle would enjoy our company no matter what Paul says.

February

• We all debated the wisdom of canning sausage in the old time way-would it kill you-and if so why are so many folks still alive and still canning it that way? I was jamming to Paul and the boys version of Fergus County Jail-and all these months later-I still must listen to it at least 3 times a week or maybe an even dozen-it's just that good. Especially when you think about it being recorded live-off the cuff at the end of one of our Sunday pickin' and grinnin' sessions.

March

• The Blind Pig family started on our Mushroom growing enterprise. I went back in time-back to when I was little skinny girl playing at the edge of a burning garden. We finished up the month by heading to Berea KY for some dancing.

April

• Violets took over the Blind Pig-I even made jelly with them. I took you along as  I climbed up a ridge as steep as a mule's face and found myself.

May

• We debated the difference in Mountain Laurel, Ivy, and Rhododendron-don't know about you-but the debate didn't change my mind on which is called what. I taught the girls how to do 'one potato two potato three potato four...' even though Chitter thought it was lame.

June

• I interviewed David Grier!!! Still can't believe it. I had his voice on my answering machine for months "Hey Tipper it's me David Grier" until someone erased it-though whoever did it still won't own up to erasing it. We all had a good laugh at the first ever Blind Pig Gang bloopers video.

July

• We made kraut-along with a few of you who made it too. I took you along on one of our treasure hunting expeditions and at the end of the month I fed grass to a grasshopper with a bittersweet heart.

August

• The month for blueberries and the best ever blueberry pie. Along with the blueberries there were sawbriers, spiders, grape hull jelly, sinners and saints-weird combination uh?

September

• Oh the distress I felt when I discovered my heirloom tomatoes may have cross pollinated-we had a great discussion about that issue. I was grateful for your input on the tomato issue and when you helped me solve 2 mysteries.

October

• We ate up some of Granny's 'fried' pies and scared ourselves with haunted houses and scary songs.

November

• I introduced some old friends to you-they just happen to be Black Walnut Trees. Pap was in the ICU at the VA Hospital in Otten for Veteran's Day-his stay stirred my thoughts and I shared them with you. 

December

• The month of Christmas-there was good food-outstanding stories-and lots of snow.

 

The year 2010 also brought some firsts for the Blind Pig & the Acorn:

• The first Blind Pig & the Acorn Planting By The Signs Calendar for 2011-remember how I published a calendar each month last summer? I developed an entire calendar for the coming year-set up in a similar way-it's easy to use-the best days for planting are marked along with pickling info, and weeding days. You can check it out by clicking on the LuLu buy now button in the top right of this page-just because you click on it doesn't mean you have to buy it-but you can check it out and see if you're interested.
• I was interviewed on the blog radio program at Salt Creek Life  -I don't believe they've got over my accent yet.
• I made a joint Partnership with The Learning Center! called the Proctor Project-where the students learn about the displaced community of Proctor-visit the area on a field trip-write essays on the subject-and then the best ones are published here on the Blind Pig. The Proctor Project is a perfect way to ensure the heritage and history of western NC continues to the next generations.
• I held a Spotlight On Music In Appalachia-and although I didn't get the big sponsors I started out hoping for-I did get some really great folks to sign on-and giving the guitar Paul bought away was for sure one highlight of the spotlight. I'm still amazed at all the folks who pitched in by donating something, writing a guest post, allowing me to interview them, or leaving heart felt comments along the way. And as I look back over the spotlight-I think it turned out just like it should have-after all it's everyday folks who make music what it is-not the big wigs at Gibson or Martin Guitars.
• I introduced a facebook page for the Blind Pig & The Acorn-and it's been a huge success. You can check out the posts from there-and other tidbits I share.
• My Twitter followers and Youtube subscribers continue to grow.
• The number of folks subscribed to the Blind Pig & the Acorn is nearing 1,000! I still can't believe that-I remember when I first started in 2008 I was tickled with 10 subscribers-and most of them were family members.

While I can't deny a little bit of pride at the things I mentioned above-the best part to me-is it means what I'm doing is working. I truly am celebrating the heritage and culture of Appalachia-and others are joining in on the celebration and that is something to celebrate in itself.

 

But don't get on the bus yet-the new year is just beginning and I've got some big plans. I'll share 2 of them with you now:

1. Hometown Seeds has once again signed on to sponsor the Blind Pig Family's garden and the 3rd Annual Blind Pig & the Acorn Planting by the Signs Test. So be deciding if you want to participate in the test this summer-and I'll be gathering the details to share with you soon.

2. I'm looking for 'make do' recipes. You know when there's nothing much left in the cabinets what do you cook? I know when Pap was growing up he said many is the night they had fried cornmeal mush for supper when there wasn't much else to eat. Around here-an example of making do cooking-is scrambled egg sandwiches or a pot of Granny's Soup. If you have a recipe to share-even better if you have a few words to go along with it-send it to me at tipper@blindpigandtheacorn.com or leave it in a comment here.

Happy New Years to you and yours!! And thank you for helping make 2010 a banner year for the Blind Pig & The Acorn!

Tipper

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Spring & Summer On A Snowy Day

Like much of the country Western NC has had it's fair share of snow this winter. For those of you who live farther north-all the hoopla about snow down south seems silly I'm sure-I admit, we do get excited over the white stuff.

As we headed out to do a show, The Sweetheart Festival, early Saturday morning-this is what the roads looked like-I still don't want to think about the ride down the driveway. Lets just say we've been walking in and out since that morning.

After a long day of talking to folks about the Blind Pig-and selling a little folkart, I was ready to head home-even if I had to hike a bit to get there. 

Once I reached home-I found Spring and Summer were waiting on me. My garden seeds had arrived. This year the kind folks over at Hometown Seeds are going to sponsor the Blind Pig garden in addition to, round 2 of the Blind Pig & The Acorn Sign Test.

Hometown Seeds specializes in providing quality seeds to home gardeners. They offer vegetable, flower and herb seeds-and guarantee their seeds to be top notch quality, true to type, shipped right, and to be great producers. Hometown Seeds does not sell GMO-genetically engineered seeds-to their customers as they do not believe enough research has been done on the subject.

 

Want to play along with the Blind Pig & The Acorn's Sign Test this year? Basically-it goes like this:  I mail you some seeds-you plant a few on the best day according to the signs-and you plant the others on the worst day according to the signs-informing me through out the season how each 'days' plants are doing. Last year I got a late start and used corn-which is kinda hard to grow in itself. Martina, Nancy, WKF, and Helen are the only ones who made it to the end. The rest of us got attacked by either rain or chipmunks.

For our test subject this year, Hometown Seeds has provided me with yellow crook neck squash seeds. If you're interested in playing along-send me an email at tipper@blindpigandtheacorn.com -and I'll send you the details.

If you haven't picked up your seeds for the coming summer-jump over to Hometown Seeds and look around-I think you'll be glad you did. I found their Survival Seeds Packet especially interesting.

Tipper

p.s. Coming up in a few days-I finally ate the Leather Britches.

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Turn Your Radio On

Are you a radio listener? If Chatter, Chitter, or The Deer Hunter are in my car-the radio is on and turned to some honky tonk country station. But if I'm alone, I'm listening to a cd-and if I do turn the radio on-it's usually to a news talk station.

Back in the day, as a teenager, I listened to the radio a lot-remember Casey Kasem's weekly top 40? I looked forward to the countdown all week and rarely missed it. If I was at home-I'd lay on the bed and listen to see who hit number one or if I was at Granny Gazzie's little house by the highway, my cousins and I would listen to see if our favorite song made it to the top of the charts.

This week my house has been all about the radio-strange for someone who seldom listens to it.

First up: Paul and Pap were invited to perform live on David Brose's radio show this coming Saturday. If you'd like to listen you can-the radio station streams live over the net. Go to: WYHG  (click on WYHG and you'll see Listen Live in blue at top right of page-click that to listen) David's show "The Mountain Valley Homecoming" airs from 12:00 till 2:00pm. Paul and Pap will perform during the first hour of the show from 12-1pm. (the times mentioned are eastern standard time-so depending on where you live you may have to convert to your time zone)

Second: I was invited to be a guest on a live radio show this Sunday by Paul Ward of Saltcreek Life. Paul's promo sums it up better than I can: Tipper from "Blind Pig And The Acorn" blog joins me as co-host for a call in trivia show. We will cover her site, Appalachian heritage, and give away some prizes. Be ready to call in! The Salt Creek Life radio show starts at 6pm central time. To listen and for more details about the show go too: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/paulsw

Third: Last night I listened to the radio as one of those cousins from Granny Gazzie's did his job. Clint is anchor for the Malone Sports Network broadcast team. Last night it was all about girls basketball. Clint did such a great job announcing-I felt like I was right there on the court-wincing at the fouls, jumping to my feet with the crowd and urging my team on to win.

If you have time this weekend I hope you'll listen in to David Brose's show-I know Pap and Paul will do a great job. I also hope you'll listen to Paul Ward's great show-who knows how good I'll do-but if nothing else I'm sure the contrast between my Appalachian accent and Paul's mid-west one will be interesting.

So are you a radio listener?

Tipper

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Happy New Year

As I look back over 2009 I'm happy with the progress made here on the Blind Pig & The Acorn site-mostly I'm thankful I have such great readers who have made 2009 a banner year for the Blind Pig.

Each post I write in an effort to promote, preserve, and celebrate Appalachian culture and heritage is made better by the comments you leave. Maybe you don't realize it-but each of you are part of the effort too.

Here's an example of how: 

• say someone googles medicinal remedies
• they click on one of my posts relevant to the subject
• read what I have to say
• then continue reading your comments

Maybe you shared your experience with a specific remedy-maybe you knew something that worked better for the ailment-what ever you shared-it helped the person who came looking for information-in many cases it may have been what brought them here in the first place. To me-that process is fantastic-and it's most definitely progress for preserving my culture.

My mind is always at work thinking, planning, and scheming about what I want to write next. Although once I write about a subject, it seems to slip to the back of my mind, pushed into a corner to make room for new ideas. This morning I took a moment to look back over the posts from 2009. A few stood out as my favorites for one reason or another:

1. Have You Got The Blues -one of my all time favorite songs-and everyone gets the blues at some point
2. Quilting Bee Then And Now-great juxtaposition of technology and old timey customs
3. My Carolina Crafting Episode Premiered Today -still can't believe I was chosen to be on this fabulous show
4. Pap And The Big Rock -it's about Pap-what else can I say
5. Economic Downturn Causes Resurgence In Old Time Ways -one good thing about the economic mess-it's brought many folks back to their roots
6. Three Indian Princess Move To New Territory -the joy of childhood
7. Pickled Beans And Corn The Old Time Way -shows it's easier than you think-and my how good they are with cornbread
8. Treasure Hunting In Appalachia Just A Touch Of The Past-I'll never forget the weirdness of this day
9. The Moving Wall Memorial -I'll never forget the emotion of this day
10. Gathering Corn -I learned how to gather corn for people and animals-I also found out a few of you still do it this way

Each of you made 2009 a great year for me-and I thank you for it. I'm hoping you stick around for 2010. A few things I'm working on for the year: a series of essays written by local students on part of western NC's history, a month long spotlight on music-which ends with a free guitar for someone out there (I've already interviewed David Grier for it-that was for sure a highlight of 2009), coming up soon-a series of posts about hog killing, and we can't end our journey of corn without making a pan or 2 of cornbread.

Happy New Year!

Tipper

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Thanksgiving

 

As I think of things I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving Day-seems I keep coming up with Fs:

• faith
• family
• freedom
• friends

Although, there is one other thing that comes to mind... YOU. I'm thankful for you who read the Blind Pig-you who encourage me to continue in my endeavor to preserve and celebrate the rich Appalachian Culture and Heritage which I am blessed to be part of.

Happy Thanksgiving to you-from the whole Blind Pig Family.

Tipper

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Entertainment During The Economic Downturn

 

As folks cut back on expenses during these difficult economic times-often the first thing to change is money spent on entertainment. Movie theaters and satellite/cable tv service are at the top of the cut back list. By the time our family of 4 goes to a movie, buys popcorn and drinks-we could have paid half our grocery bill for the week. Needless to say we don't go to the movies much. A few cheaper viewing options:

• Drag out those movies you haven't watched in a coons age-and watch them.
• Have a swap/borrow party with friends and family. These days most everyone has a video collection of some type-this is a good way to view movies you haven't seen before without having to spend any cash.
• Join one of new movie services like Netflix. A much cheaper alternative than visiting a movie theater.
• For all of you have that glorious unlimited high speed internet service-watch shows/movies online-for FREE.
• Visit your local library and check out movies for FREE.

 

The downturn has given board games a new life. Folks across the country are pulling the games out of the hall closet and remembering how much fun it can be to sit around the table with friends and family-just enjoying time spent together. My 2 favorite games from childhood-Sorry and Clue. Recently me and the girls were introduced to Apples To Apples-a very fun game if you've never tried it before-you should.

 

Book reading is a hobby many people share-as you can see from our messy bookshelf-3 of us are avid readers. Books can be expensive to buy-but there are sometimes alternatives for paying the price:

• Easiest-visit your local library.
• Share/trade books with friends.
• Find a used book store that works as a kind of exchange-they buy your books-then you use the money to buy more books from their store.
• Use an on line trading service such as Paperback Swap.

I'm hoping and praying the economic situation improves rapidly-I think I've shared with you before-I lost all 3 of my part-time jobs back before Christmas. I believe the one upside to the downturn is-it has caused many people to rethink their lifestyles-forced them to spend more time with the people they love-caused them to reconnect to the family and friends who need them.

As you all know-the Blind Pig & The Acorn Family's main source of entertainment-is making music. For this week's Pickin' & Grinnin' In The Kitchen Spot another old Louvin Brothers Song Seven Year Blues. If you watch the video you'll see how much we just enjoy making music-about half way through the boys stop-realizing some rhythms they just found sound good-they talk/yawn a little and start again. You can see the pure joy they get from music-and you can hear some mighty fine pickin' and grinnin' too.

(don't forget to stop the player at the top right of the page)

Hope you enjoyed the song-and the entertainment tips. So what have you and your family been doing for entertainment?

Tipper

p.s. If you subscribe to the Blind Pig by email-and want to see the video-click here.

Economic Downturn Causes A Resurgence In Old Time Ways

Over the past few days we've been discussing how reusing, repurposing, and recycling can be good for the environment-and good for the pocket book. The downturn in the economy has caused a need for thriftiness in most households-which has resulted in a resurgence of lifestyles that hearken from an earlier time.

 

The "backyard chicken" phenomenon is on the rise across the nation. Amazing how many urban dwellers are now raising chickens in their backyards. Frequently they have to petition the local government before acquiring the chickens-and frequently they win the battle due to the sheer number of folks who are exercising their right to have and raise chickens on their own property. (click here to read more about the issue)

 

Hanging clothes out to dry is on the rise among home owners. Two factors are contributing to the increase-the first needing to be "green" for the environment-hanging out your clothes saves on energy-therefore reducing the need to produce energy. The second reason-folks are trying to lower their energy bill. I grew up with a clothesline mentality-it was just something you did-hang the clothes out to dry. I also grew up without air conditioning. With the clothes dryer located in the kitchen-drying loads of clothes = an unbearable hot house. So hanging clothes out for us was a no-brainer, save money and have a cooler house.

 

Sadly the economic downturn has forced many people to cutback on health care. Many folks are trying to treat their aliments at home, to save money by skipping the doc visit and the prescriptions that often follow. Here at the Blind Pig-I've seen an increase in folks visiting my site to read about Appalachian Medicinal Remedies. Although I don't know for sure-I believe the increase in traffic is due to folk's interest in treating their illnesses at home-just like it was done back in the day. (to read more about the health care issue go here)

 

The Horticultural Industry-is one of the few sectors of our economy that is BOOMING. Seeds, plants, and other gardening related items have seen an increase in sales-in some case up 40% in the last year-pretty impressive given the decrease in other retail sales. As folks worry about the economy-and the rising price of food, more and more people are planting vegetables as a way to put food on the table for their families. Even folks like me-who were already gardening and preserving before the downturn-are planting a little extra-and planning on preserving a little extra too. The Deer Hunter and I figure-if we need it we'll have it-if we don't need it we will share it with someone who does. (to read more about this issue go here)

The economic downturn has also increased the amount of meals folks cook and eat at home. We hardly ever eat out-so that hasn't been an issue for us. But we have tried to cut back on expenses in other areas-*we switched over to compact fluorescent lightbulbs-and have seen our electric bill go down *planted a larger garden than usual so we can preserve more food for the coming year *tried to eat out of our pantry instead of buying additional groceries *quit giving the girls spending money *made a greater effort to make do with what we have and quit worrying about what we don't have.

So how about you-has the economic downturn caused you to go back to the old time ways? Has the downturn caused you to make lifestyle changes?

Tipper

p.s. Drop back by for the next post-to see how the economic downturn has effected entertainment.