On day four, I went to Jamestown to get one of the key ingredients required for day five – pickling spice. Well, you could tell that this is high pickling season in Jamestown. Every store was sold out. The lady at Food Lion was particularly upset about their being sold out. “Someone should be fired for letting this happen!” she said. So I returned to Rugby just sure that this was going to be a major disaster. I alerted half the village that I needed six tablespoons of pickling spice by the next day. Fortunately, Beth Hester was coming to Rugby that night and she was able to pick up some for me from some place that was not as obsessed with pickling as Jamestown.
So on day five I cut up the cucumbers and put them in my mother’s secret concoction. It quickly became apparent to me why her pickles always taste so good. The main ingredients are a modest gallon of cider vinegar and a whopping 32 cups of sugar.
After two days of soaking in the secret ingredients, it was time to put it in jars. George helped me organize dozens of jars and canning lids. We got everything hot and boiling again and filled the jars, tightened the lids and waited for the lids to making a popping noise showing that the jars were sealed. Lo and behold, it worked.
So, this has inspired me to do more. Does anyone have a good canning recipe they are willing to share using tomatoes – like for salsa or something like that?
Irish Band Performing August 9
The Boys of County Nashville is a four-piece traditional Irish band made up of seasoned veterans of Nashville's recording studios and concert venues who have performed with such artists as Michael Martin Murphy. They play together for the sheer love of it and to preserve Irish music traditions. Their instrumentation includes fiddle, accordion, guitar, penny whistle, tenor banjo, mandolin, concertina and percussion. The band is unique in that their repertoire bridges the two distinct strains in Irish traditional music - the songs (ballads, lively pub songs, story songs, sentimental favorites) and the dazzling instrumental music (the jigs, reels, hornpipes, etc.).
The band has been performing regularly at Findley's Irish Pub in the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee for the past few years and look forward to bringing their music to the Johnson Theatre at Rugby.
New Rugby Lot Owners
As of yesterday there are two new lot owners in Beacon Hill II. Michael Slate and Kathy Lauder have purchased Lot 7 and hope to move to Rugby in approximately two years upon Kathy's retirement from the Tennessee State Library & Archives. Michael is retired from a career in building supply sales. Both are avid historians and have a website which focuses on the history of Nashville.
Jeff Biggers Talk Cancelled
Barbara Stagg wanted me to announce that Jeff Biggers has had to cancel his lecture and reading due to a scheduling conflict. No word yet on whether it will be rescheduled.
Weekend Recap
This photo was sent to me by Carrie Thornthwaite who helped lead the hike at Burnt Mill Bridge on Saturday. The photo shows (left to right) Julian Bankston, Bonita Howell, Margaret (from Knoxville), Tom Howell, Jane Logan, Wil Thornthwaite, Carrie Thornthwaite, and Bob Hemminger. Jane Logan thinks the flower on the upper right side of the photo is jimsonweed, an invasive exotic which is very poisonous and the flower below it is rattlesnake master, just two of the interesting plants they saw. Carrie mentioned that the river was very low.
Mary Hemminger said they had eight couples at the English Country Dancing class Saturday night. They did three dances, First Anniversary, a modern adaptation by Bob Hemminger of an older dance, Indian Queen/Indian Princess first published in 1701, and The Hole in the Wall first published in 1721. Mary said everyone had a good time and there was talk of doing it again sometime.
At least seven folks joined Barbara Stagg on her Hidden History Walk around Uffington and the Tabbard Inn site. They apparently did something right as they avoided getting wet in spite of the intermittent showers. Here is a photo from Beth Dunagan of Barbara and part of the group including on the right new lot owners Michael Slate and Kathy Lauder.
And eight participants attended the American Red Cross First Aid and CPR refresher class. Thanks to John Hicks and Lavonne Gibbs for organizing the class. Lavonne will post a list of people who have had first aid training at various places around the village. These folks will also know how to operate the defibrillator kept at the Friendly House for situations when a person is suffering from cardiac arrest. John hopes to get the Red Cross back to do a beginner class in a few months.Birthdays
July 31 – Jane Fuchs
August 3 – Scott Britt
Calendar of Events
August 1 – Basket Studio Opening Class with Judy Zugish. 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, $35 (materials included). Participants should bring hand clippers, and old towel, and lunch. All levels welcome. Payment in advance. Contact Gayle Minor for reservations (423-628-6295, gaylemk@aol.com)
August 2 – Community Potluck 7:00 pm EDT
August 2 –CANCELLED Talk & Book signing by Jeff Biggers.
August 8 – History Night 7:30 pm EDT at Rebecca Johnson Theatre, photographic views of 1891 Rugby newly discovered in England. Includes Tabard Inn, Virgo, The Lindens, Farden’s Drugstore, Commissary, Rugby Scenery, etc. Barbara Stagg interpreting.
August 9 – Concert – The Boys of County Nashville. 7:45 pm EDT at the Rebecca Johnson Theatre. Three-piece traditional Irish Band. Tickets must be purchased in advance through Historic Rugby. $10 in advance, $12 day of the Concert.
August 7 – 10 – Highway 127 World’s Longest Yard Sale – an estimated 4,000 vendors line Highway 127 from Defiance, Ohio down to Gadsden, Alabama. Comes within 15 miles of Rugby near Jamestown, Tennessee.
Exercise Group - Monday and Thursday at 9:00 am EDT at the Friendly House
Dulcimer Class – Tuesdays, 2:00 pm EDT at the Friendly House
Quilters Group - Wed. and Sat. 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm EDT at the Friendly House
Nature Notes by Linda Konig
I saw my first carnivorous plant in its natural habitat this week, and I was thrilled. These are considered rare. It was the Inflated Bladderwort which thrives in the lake at Pickett State Park. Don’t be fooled by the name. It’s really a lovely bright yellow flower with its radial “feet” down in the water lying in wait, waiting for dinner. When minute crustaceans and other tiny organisms swim by, they might touch one of the trigger hairs on a bladder (on the “feet”). Instantly a trapdoor flaps inward and the bladder expands, creating a suction effect. “Dinner” is pulled into the bladder and enzymes begin to digest the organisms.
There are a couple of other bladderworts that I would like to find in our area, too. One is the Yellow Zigzag Bladderwort found in Morgan, Fentress, and Cumberland Counties, and the other is the Lavender Bladderwort found in Cumberland County. All these species are rare and operate the same way as the Inflated Bladderwort.
Nature Note Comment
In response to last week’s Nature Notes, Vi Biehl wrote that “two times now I've personally transported a katydid (must have been males since they were making noises) via our vehicle windshield, once about a decade ago and once a few weeks ago. They landed on our windshield as we drove away and that is where they remained--even up to 65 mph--for the entire trip. Just didn't budge and they were not hanging on to anything but the glass, and the blast of wind they encountered was stiff!
When we got to where we were going, the first a distance of about 50 miles from Rugby to KY, and the second from Crossville to Clarkrange, their little feet had to be carefully pried from the windshield. The first was very friendly and walked on my hand and arm throughout a picnic lunch, finally taken over by a small grandchild who overcame his fear of such a 'big bug!' and the second I just left by the side of the road at the stoplight in Clarkrange.
What I was wondering was: do these small creatures find a home with a new group of katydids or are they dead meat at that point, being in another group's territory?”
