A Chilly Michaelmas Festival
Lots of people were in Rugby this weekend, no doubt drawn to the Michaelmas Festival or just passing through on the way to the Allardt Pumpkin Festival and stopping by. One longtime Rugby visitor here this weekend commented that with the recent restoration work done on several of the buildings, improvements at the lodging and the beautiful fall decorations, the village looked as good as they had ever seen it look. It was a nice morning but chilly day for the Michaelmas Festival Saturday. Fortunately the British Cream Tea was inside the Friendly House.
Young folks did an excellent job of serving the guests at the tea. At the top right, Judy Newport and Annie Patterson try to stay warm under an outside vendor tent. A beautiful collection of gourds were decorated by Donna Heffner (who was snug inside at the Board of Aid while Annie did outside duty). Photos by George Zepp and Rick Murphy.
New Area Business Visits
Representatives of a business that is building a new facility in the Glades area near Deer Lodge came to visit Rugby this week with Morgan County Economic Development Director Becky Ruppe. Cobb-Vantress Inc. is a poultry research and development company that will be employing approximately 120 employees (mostly local folks) when it is fully operational. Complex Manager Craig Benich and his associates had lunch at the Harrow Road Café a couple of times this week and were shown around the village by Cheryl Cribbet. We look forward to seeing more of our new neighbors.
Bypass Construction Progresses
We walked along the new Rugby Bypass on Sunday and were amazed at how much progress has been made. A long stretch on the western side looks like it is ready for gravel, and the road banks have been planted with grass. A good bit of work remains to be done on the two bridges, but good progress is being made on the supports.
Photo by Rick Murphy
Officials with Blalock Construction Co. said this week that the project is on track to be completed as scheduled by December 2012. You may have noticed a lot of trucks going through
One side note – traffic statistics for State Route 52 through Rugby are at http://ww3.tdot.state.tn.us/TrafficHistory/ If you either click on the map, or put in the county and station info, it gives you the average cars a day in a location. It appears Rugby is
Wine, Cheese and Chocolate Benefit Saturday
For a new taste of Rugby, join Historic Rugby for a Wine, Cheese and Chocolate tasting at historic Uffington House, once home of the founder's mother. Wines will come from Rugby's own Harrow Road Cafe, now with Australian, South African and New Zealand vintages. Each was a part of the British Empire during Rugby's heyday.
Rich chocolates will be provided by Knoxville's South's Finest Chocolate Factory. Fresh cheeses will be included thanks to Sweetwater Farms.
Taste them all in the unique setting where Margaret Hughes enjoyed her exciting 80s, supervising a rural farm operation and enjoying the company of her granddaughter in the wilderness of Tennessee. Quite a change for a British matron of high culture! Her famous son, author Thomas Hughes, was grateful for her presence in the Rugby settlement , boosting morale.
WHEN: 3-5 P.M. EASTERN (2-4 Central) SAT., OCT. 8
WHERE: HIGHWAY 52, RUGBY (See signs for parking)
RESERVATIONS: $40 per person
CONTACT: 1-888-214-3400 or historicrugby@highland.net
This event will benefit Historic Rugby's ongoing operations for preservation and interpretation of the National Register site.
By Charles and Lavonne Gibbs
Charles and Lavonne Gibbs invite you to their annual Rice Hollow Picnic, Saturday, October 8, 2011. The farm is located at Rice Hollow, Kentucky
Ginseng Jack (1954-2011)Rita Myers mentioned that Jack Berry of
Oct. 8 – Chip Elliott and Mara Trumbo
Rex Miller was born in Cookeville, TN on July 8, 2011... on what would have been his great-grandmother's 102nd birthday. As he approaches his 3rd month birthday, his grandfather, Wil Thornthwaite, is still hoping that his first words will be "Roll Tide." -- Carrie Thornthwaite
CALENDAR
Saturday, October 8 – Cemetery Lantern Tour, 5:30 p.m. Eastern. Call Historic Rugby at 1-888-214-3400 for reservations.
Saturday, November 5 – Community Potluck - 7 p.m. Eastern
Quilters’ Group - Wed. and Sat. 2–4 p.m. Eastern at the Friendly House
An Autumn Romance
By Linda Konig
I promised in last week's Nature Notes that I'd bring you up to date about the Cross spider couple that had set up housekeeping on my front porch. It's hard to describe their mating ritual.
First I'll explain the technical part: The males have pedipalps which look like boxing gloves on the first pair of legs that are short and stubby. These pedipalps insert the male sperm into the female's gonopore, which is on her abdomen. The sperm are stored in the female's body until she lays her eggs. As the eggs pass through to her oviducts, they're fertilized by the male's sperm. Actually, it's all a bit more complicated than this sounds, but this is the basic explanation.
I had watched a David Attenborough video showing Wolf spiders mating, so I'd assumed all spiders go through the same modus operandi. What I observed, however, was somewhat different. This male summoned his courage and kept approaching the female. He was almost as big as she was. She would make a sort of lunging movement which would make him back up.
They were both on strands of web, like tight-rope walkers. Finally, he was allowed to get closer, and they began to play footsie, so to speak, as their abdomens were facing each other. Still, if she made the slightest aggressive movement he would beat a hasty retreat.
Finally, after more than an hour of this, he was allowed even closer, and he gained more courage. He began to stroke her ventral side with his forelegs. She became almost totally still as though quite mesmerized, and he began to make extremely fast jerky jumps at her. I tried to see better with a magnifying glass, but the movements were literally faster than lightning. After a few moments, they parted, he to his corner of the web, she to the center. About 10 or 15 minutes later, they got back together again and repeated the earlier process.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find a good video on the Web of this mating dance, so next year, you might like to try allowing spiders to live on your porch so you can watch them. Meanwhile I highly recommend http://bugeric.blogspot.com/2011/08/spider-sunday-cross-spider.html. Eric R. Eaton, whose blogspot this is, was the principal writer of Kaufman's Field Guide to Insects of North America, my favorite general insect book.
The next few nights and days, they remained closer to each other than they had before, he spending time on her web at night instead of on the outer edge of the storm door glass as he had before. In the daytime, he changed his sleeping spot to a place on the ceiling. They both became much more lethargic. Was it the cooler temperatures, old age, or both? Some nights, she didn't bother to re-spin her web at all or even investigate the insects that flew into it.
Finally, early on Thursday night, I noticed that she'd climbed up to his sleeping spot, but I couldn't find him anywhere. In fact, he hasn't turned up anywhere since then, so I think she ate him. It would appear he gave his all for the good of their young spiderlings. A little later, I saw her crawl over to the picture window frame. This was the first time she'd ever left the front porch. Then she proceeded to walk up and down along the top of that frame as though examining it. In a few minutes, she spun a vertical line in front of the window toward the ground, but then seemed to change her mind and climbed the line back up again. She then proceeded to crawl across the width of the top of the window frame to a snug crack.
And that was the last I saw of her. Since it's been several days and nights since then, and she hasn't turned up, I assume she laid her egg sac(s) in the crack and is either still guarding it or has died. By now she had lived a long life in spider years. A website says she will guard her egg sac for a few days and then die. Unfortunately, I can't see into the crack. Her sac should be a pale yellow and contain hundreds of eggs. Next Spring. . . .
Finally, early on Thursday night, I noticed that she'd climbed up to his sleeping spot, but I couldn't find him anywhere. In fact, he hasn't turned up anywhere since then, so I think she ate him. It would appear he gave his all for the good of their young spiderlings. A little later, I saw her crawl over to the picture window frame. This was the first time she'd ever left the front porch. Then she proceeded to walk up and down along the top of that frame as though examining it. In a few minutes, she spun a vertical line in front of the window toward the ground, but then seemed to change her mind and climbed the line back up again. She then proceeded to crawl across the width of the top of the window frame to a snug crack.
And that was the last I saw of her. Since it's been several days and nights since then, and she hasn't turned up, I assume she laid her egg sac(s) in the crack and is either still guarding it or has died. By now she had lived a long life in spider years. A website says she will guard her egg sac for a few days and then die. Unfortunately, I can't see into the crack. Her sac should be a pale yellow and contain hundreds of eggs. Next Spring. . . .
Historic Rugby’s Workshops
Saturday, October 15 - Autumn Gathering and Arranging ~ 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. EDT. Instructor: Linda Konig. Fee $24. Join us in the fields and roadsides to gather dried wildflowers, seed heads, berries and nuts to create your own fall arrangement. Learn the names of and interesting information about all your “autumn gatherings”. Photo is from last year's workshop.
To register the workshops, call toll-free 1-888-214-3400 or 423-628-2441. Lodging may be available at 1880 Newbury House and local cottages at a 10% discount to students. Food service is available at the Harrow Road Café.
This Week’s Editors: Rick Murphy and George Zepp
