Bob Evans Farm Festival 2009

The Bob Evans Farm Festival this weekend was
so much fun. Even the heavy rains Friday did not
keep away the crowds of people who attend to
see all that the festival had to offer.
Great music and square dancing.
Also a whole section is prepared for the children to
join in some country activities.
Arts and crafts, farm animals at the kid's corral,
kid's tractor pulls, hay bale and corn mazes, and
facing painting to name a few.

I always enjoy the many craft tents that cover
the grounds of the festival.
Again pictures are frowned upon so as to
keep others from copying their goods.
Which can be understandable.

All the crafter's were ready for those who
are looking for their fall and Christmas decorating.
Not to mention the booths with homemade items such
as purses of which my daughter bought two. They were lovely.
Among the booths of homemade items were:
Sculpted and rag dolls of every description,
silverware jewelry, tole and decorative painting,
china and porcelain painting, decorated gourds of every
description, toys, soap making, clay works, iron garden
decorations, dough art, pottery, wood carving, light bulb
ornaments, candles, primitive items too numerous too
numerous to mention,copper sculptors, leather items,
knitted items from rugs to clothing, slate painting,
wire trees, baskets that were works of art, quilted items,
log cabin crafts, brooms, furniture, braided rugs, stained
and fused glass,dried flowers, weaving and spinning, mobils
and birdhouses,cornhusk dolls, quilted angels, painted
pumpkins, and one of my favorites was the water
fountains made from antiques.

And of course the food tents with not only Bob Evans
foods but bean soup in giant open kettles, sauces, spices,
honey, candies, apple butter, cheese, apple dumplings, apple
cider, trail bologna, and the lists went on and on.

The quilt barn was full of beautiful hand stitched
quilts again this year, and quilting demonstrations and
patterns.

There were also tents full of antiques.



What is a Fall festival without loads of pumpkins and
fall blooming flowers. The mums were gorgeous and
of course I came back with four new pansies.
I see flowers everywhere I go what can I say ;-)




It was a wet and cloudy day this year for the festival
but it did not diminish the fun my daughter and I
had Saturday and although we saw a few who had to
get help getting their cars out of the fields we were
lucky enough not to get hung up in the mud.
On the drive back home we took many side trips and
detours to visit some of the local scenery and ran into
a few surprises that I will share in future postings.
With the Fall foliage starting to add color and
beauty to the hills of Ohio a few, alright a lot, of
pictures were taken.



Happy Gardening Everyone!

Old Country Churches

Liberty Ridge Church

The old Country Church's are becoming a thing of the past.
With people leaving the small rural communities to work
in larger cities where work can be found the small towns are dying out.
In my area the small business man cannot make it competing with
the big box stores who can buy in large quantities so the little
corner grocery, gasoline stations and even the post office are gone.

People congregate in bigger and more modern churches
now, so these small country churches are closed or
striving to hang on with a few faithful members.

The passing of time into the modern world of communication
has been a marvel. But will our children miss out on knowing
and helping their neighbors? Is bigger and faster better?
I like the modern but I also feel sad to see some of the better
things of the older life decaying and disappearing.





Lebanon Church



Ebenezer Church



Otterbein Church




Wesley Chapel Church

Fire Lookout Towers

The Fire Lookout Tower at Cedar Falls in the
Hocking Hills State Park is located on State
Route #374 at the entrance of Steele Road.


These towers are valued now for their history and
were once very important to forest fire management
in the Hocking State Forest and area homes and farms.

Each day during the peak fall and spring wildfire seasons
vigilant spotters climbed to the cabins of these towers to
survey the surrounding landscape for telltale signs of
wildfire smoke. If a blaze erupted, spotters would
telephone from tower to tower to triangulate
the exact location.

In time, improved telephone communication throughout
the rural areas, as well as the use of airplanes in wildfire
detection, made lookout towers obsolete.

The last Fire Spotter for this tower before its closing
was Sylvia Akers a resident of the area.

Restoration of the fire towers in Ohio is being done
in conjunction with the"National Forest Lookout
Association" and the " Ohio Division of Natural Resource's
Division of Forestry".

Bob Evans Farm Festival

The 38th Annual Bob Evans Farm Festival is being held
October 10-12th, 2008 in Rio Grande, Ohio.





First Some History on Bob Evans:

The Bob Evans Farm in southeastern Ohio was home to Bob
Evans, founder of the Bob Evans Farms Inc. and his wife Jewell
for nearly twenty years. They raised their six children in the
brick farmhouse known as the Homestead.





The Homestead was once a stagecoach stop and an inn, it is
now the company museum and historical center.
Bob Evans was the "king of sausage" and the restaurant
chain by his name. Bob Evans never wanted to be famous
but used his fame to call attention to the history of the area
and to aid better education to help save the American farmer.
He loved 4-H, conservation, year around grazing, and saving
wild mustangs. Using new grasses in year around grazing
a concept he learned from a trip to New Zealand, taught
farmers they could avoid the purchasing of costly grains
and silage for their livestock in the winter.Using low cost
crops such as turnips reduced feeding costs daily.
He loved children and helped to establish the Ohio
Appalachian Center for Higher Education for
children in Ohio and northern West Virginia.

Every year a Farm Festival is held at the Homestead
to celebrate harvest season.
Some of the events offered were Square dancing tractors,
chain saw carvers, horse mounted drill team, timber show
and farm demonstration contests.
Craft demonstrations included: blacksmithing, folk tool
making, quilting, soap making, weaving.
Demonstrations on horseshoe pitching, border collie herding,
sheep shearing, horseshoeing were held.
A display of antique tractors was also offered in one tent.





Traditional foods were offered such as pictured above, bean soup
cooked in open fired kettles. Also offered were cornbread,
kettle corn, pies, apple dumplings, ice cream. Ohio made cheeses,
and trail bologna.
Plus all the foods offered at other carnivals and festivals. Their
was a Bob Evans Food tent and one of his restaurant's is built
near the farm.





Musical entertainment was in abundance with different
Bluegrass musicians, comedians, square dancing and
clogging, and roving minstrels.




Children's activities included a interactive barnyard, splatter
painting, lead horseback riding, hay bale maze, wagon rides,
a game tent, pedal tractor pulls, corn shilling, cow chip tossing,
apple peeling, hog calling, feed sack races, and egg tossing.





The farm grounds were loaded with tents of artisan's
displaying every craft imaginable and antiques for purchase.
It turns out thousands of people in attendance over the three
day festival. The grounds were packed with people enjoying
all that was offered. Traffic was backed up with car loads
of people trying to get to the festival. So be prepared to be patient
if you plan to attend future festivals.
An RV Parking area also offered space for campers to
stay and attend which helped families and the traffic
jams.
With the beautiful Fall sunshine and temperatures in
the upper 70's to 80's it all made for a fantastic weekend
and a final outing before the weather turns colder.
The leaves are into their final weeks of beauty and
added to the backdrop of the area. Cameras
were in abundance.
Next weekend will be the best for
pictures of the leaves here in the Hocking Hills area.

In following posts I will show pictures of quilts
from the quilt barn and pictures of painted hats
that represented the 88 counties of Ohio that were
on display at the festival.

" If It Holds Dirt "

If it holds dirt, it holds flowers.

I just cannot help myself. It is in my blood.
Everything I look at anymore while going to
flea markets, antique shops, yard sales or shopping
of any kind I always look and ask myself, "Can I put
flowers in it"?
My family throws nothing away unless they ask me first
if I want it to put flowers in.
Anything that can hold dirt is a potential flower
container.
Makes no difference what it may be. Is it broken?
Does it have holes in it? They still have the possibility
to be turned into a unusual or great flower container.
It seems that I am not alone in this phenomenon since
the new fad or craze in gardening decor is whimsical or
junk gardening.
Here are a few of the containers around my home
that all hold dirt.



The lid broke on the old mailbox but.......



The old grill got small holes in the bottom......



Old coffee pot......



The birdbath was too slick for the birds liking......



An old chair makes great planters......



An old plow.....



The pedestal is broken off but it still holds dirt.....



A teapot.....



A tool carrier.......



A foot tub......



A bucket.......




A basket......

They all hold dirt.....

Junk Flower Gardening

I have been "Junk" flower gardening for years and have
just learned that it has become the newest gardening fad
and rage that is going around. Rust is in style and now so
am I without even trying. If you live long enough everything
will eventually come in style. What is old becomes the new.




My son does not throw anything away anymore. He just
says "Mom will probably want this to plant flowers in".



Whether it is tiny holes in the old grill making it unsafe for
fire or the broken lid on the mailbox the flowers do not care.



The ladder is handy for extra flowers and it also hides
the water well pipe.




What else would you do with an old well pump but
make a water pond and fountain.



" Cares Melt When You Kneel In Your Garden "

Antique Valentines

My Grandma gave me some lovely old antique postcards
that had been sent to her and other members of her family
over the years. These were among just some of the family
heirlooms that she had given into my keep. She knew even
when I was a young girl that I would appreciate and take care
of the family keepsakes that would make up the history of our
family. She was right because I love antiques and have been an
active genealogist for about twenty years. So I would like to share
here. Some of them may be different than what have been posted
elsewhere on other sites.



Who could turn down this slick fella?



The Verse must have been got for that time.



True Love.



Not committed or just fishing?



HAPPY VALENTINES !

A New Year

It seems the New Year has decided to come in with a vengeance
here in the Hocking Hills. There may have only been a few inches
of snow, but with the fierce winds that few inches has become large
snow drifts blocking paths, sidewalks, and roadways. The wind chill
makes one grit their teeth as they step outside. Living here upon the
hill-tops, looks can be deceiving. Up here it can look as though a
blizzard is raging and as you travel down off of the hills into the valley
it can seem mild by comparison. The snow starts sticking here first,
so we always have more snow and of course more wind with the
storms. It is a different climate zone all together.
Since the great outdoors is not calling my name (if it is, this girl
is not listening) and not luring me to come out of the house, so the
last two days have been spent in my other addiction, Genealogy.
Tired of dreaming over the many Seed catalogs and Springs planning,
I turned my attention to searching through old newspaper archives.
When happened upon this 1928 ad from the now non-existing
Cussins & Fearn Store, I had to smile and, yes, once again my
attention was brought right back to gardening.
The old Cussins & Fearn Stores were local hardware stores that were
patronized by many in their day.
This particular ad is a gardeners dream come true. If only we could
get the same products today for the same prices. (Sigh)
Back then the prices were most likely high, for the wages one was paid
and for the farmer trying to feed and raise a family.
The products would be antiques today, bringing good prices on Ebay.

To get four Roses for a dollar, shrubs for twenty-nine cents, and since
handles in hoes and shovels do not hold up to my prying, fifty-
six cents would be very welcome.

Fall in the Hocking Hills

In Southeastern Ohio, Fall is the most beautiful time of the year. Here in the Hocking Hills area the woods are a riot of color the last two weeks of October. Visitors come to view the leaves and scenery around the Hocking Hills State Park's and Caves.

Shades of yellows out my back door.

Shades of Red and Orange

And Fall Flowers are in Bloom

Have a Wonderful Autumn