# Took the Long Way Home Today



## logueb

I enjoyed that ride with Pat so much, that I grabbed the camera and took the long way home after work today.  Hope that you enjoy a little of the history in today's ride.  So load up and let's go for a slow ride down some Georgia back roads and see what we can find.


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## logueb

This is the ol bottle digging truck.  Check out the back.


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## logueb

Well I gotta run through town so the first thing we run across is the Old Slave Market.  Built back in the 1700s I think. A car actually ran through this thing a few weeks ago and into the building across the street.


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## logueb

Here's a better pic of the whole thing.  To be politically correct we must now say The Old Market House.


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## logueb

While were's still in town we might as well run by the Revolutionary war cemetery.


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## logueb

This place is creepy, just look at all that Spanish moss hanging outta them trees.


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## logueb

The town keeps it up pretty well.


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## logueb

Looks like someone put the wrong flag at ol Seth Pierce's grave.  That's a  First National confederate flag they have there.


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## logueb

Forgot to get a close up on this one.


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## logueb

Here's Big Creek.  This is my best fishing hole, but don't tell anyone.  I always catch a big mess of Redbreast bream, catfish, and bass out of this creek.


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## logueb

Next, we come upon Galphin's Old Town.  There was a Trading Post here with the Indians on the Ogeechee river.  I'll just let you read the sign for yourselves.


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## logueb

The main house is now a bed and breakfast.  So if  you want some good ol Southern Hospitality , come on down for a stay.


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## logueb

There are a lot of buildings on the plantation.  I don't know exactly what this one was used for.


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## logueb

Some ruins on the plantation.  Could be some reminders of Sherman's march through Georgia.


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## logueb

Now we're gonna ride some of those back clay roads of Georgia.  We come up on McCroan's Bridge.  Supposed to be the only wooden bridge still crossing the Ogeechee River.  County Commisioners wanted to tear it down and build a new one, but the folks got together and stopped it.  They updated the railing, it used to be all wood also.  Looks like somebody has put crush & run on this clay road to keep cars from sliding in the ditches.  Ever slid in a ditch on a muddy road?


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## logueb

Forgot the picture of the bridge.


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## logueb

We have to sometimes cross this thing with a firetruck, so I guess it's ok to cross.  Anyway, here we go.


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## logueb

Here's the ol swimming hole, wanna go for a cool dip?  If you look at the center of the picture you can see the steps nailed to the three and the rope up in the tree for swinging.  Too low to be diving in here now.


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## logueb

Well I guess we better be getting on to the house and feed ol Harley the black lab. Say hi to the folks Harley.


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## logueb

Harley tried to follow me one day when he was just a pup and got hit out on the highway.  Broke back leg, broke jaw and some internal brusing.  I didn't believe that he would live through the night, but the vet said if he lived 24 hours he would probably make it , being he was young.  Well he healed up after a 6 months stay in his kennel, no running, no jumping, and on a leash even to go out.  Now all he wants to do is play.  here he's protecting his favorite squeeze toy. He wants me to play.


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## logueb

After we play catch, he has to have his ice water.


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## logueb

This is a little project that I've been working on.  I coverted my daughter's old swingset into a swing . Probably needs another coat of paint.


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## logueb

Bought this bench at an antique auction.  It's made out of cypress.  Gave it a coat of paint also.


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## logueb

There is a Carolina Bay behind the house on my property.  a carolina bay is a large circluar area that sits on a hill, but is a wet weather area.  There are cyprus trees growing in this thing.  It is full of water about 6 months and dry for 6 months.  Most folks call them wet weather ponds.  Here is a project that I have been working on for several years, (when I have time).  I'm trying to make a walk across the middle of the area.  I have maybe 600 yards completed. I like to walk out here in the early mornings or late in the evening.  Just so relaxing.


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## logueb

Another section.


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## logueb

Section with a curve.  You can see one  of those cypress trees to the right of the pic.


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## logueb

The walkway sits on solid red oak trusses that are driven two to three feet into the mud.


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## logueb

My neighbor  invited me over to pick some scuppernongs, so I guess I'll walk over and check them out.  He sells to the public.  It's cheaper to pick your own.  He always invites me over.  He's a good neighbor.


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## logueb

He does a great job keeping this place neat and tidy..


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## logueb

Yep, The're loaded down this year, amazing as dry as it's been.


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## logueb

Well, I gotta get to picking before dark sets in.  These things are starting to dry up on the vines. Hope you enjoyed the trip and maybe we can take another ride again real soon. Yall come back now, ya hear.


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## capsoda

Wow, You can almost here the crickets cherping. Very nice scenery. Thanks for sharing.


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## RICKJJ59W

Nice little trip[] how do I get back now![8D]  R


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## logueb

Hey Cap, You ever swung out into the river on a rope like that, or climbed up and dove into the river?

 Hey Rick,  Sorry man, there's no round trip ticket.  Once you get used to those 300 plus days of shunshine, no snowy and icey roads  in the winter, fishing year round, large whitetail deer (I have them almost daily in the back yard), you're here to stay.


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## cobaltbot

Buster,
 Thanks for the ride, some enjoy the destination, some the journey, some like me both.  The road less traveled by and all that always appealed to me.  Life's full of ironies, I've always loved deeply my home town area but struck by wonderlust always love checking out whats around the next bend.  Can't get that Supertramp song out of my head.......love that song!
 Cobalt


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## jwschaeffer

Hey Buster, Sorry again! Great pics...i wish i had a yard like that. 

 P.S. -That aquarium guy ended up being a pretty good toy..it was made by a company called Bing..in the 30's..got over $300. for it on ebay. 

 Again awesome pics!!I hope there is no hard feelings! Regards..John


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## bigghouse

i have a black lab and shes bean attacted by are neighbors dog so much that they had to give him away. but anyway i bet in that creak there are bottles, thats where i find most of mine, in a creek.

 anna


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## capsoda

You bet Buster. Did the mud slide thing too.

 Hey John, Great to hear. Bing items always bring good money and they are not all that rare. Great for you good for collectors of bing items.[]  Congrats.


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## Georgia Peach

What part of Georgia are you in?  Apparantely southern with all the Spanish Moss.  I was raised in Florida so that stuff makes me homesick everytime I see it, (made me itch one time too - red bugs!)  You also must be in the eastern section with all the Revolutionary & Shermans March to the Sea.  My 9 year old son loves the history from the era & we try to visit as many sites as we can.  Thanks for the sharing the photos, Beautiful!


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## OsiaBoyce

Swimming w/ gators,crossing a highland pond to shoot dear,picking scuppernong make wine or jelly? Aint the South great? Typical plantation house,they all didn't look look Tara.This was usual style, is this Georgian? Where's F.L. Wright when you need him. Which way we gonna go next time? "And the neighbors said we lived like hicks,but they'd bring their cars for pa to fix" Toward Savannah?


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## logueb

Thanks for all the wonderful replies.  And as you can tell Pat and I both are proud of the part of the country we live in, the South. Cornbread, grits , and Southern Pride.

 Cobalt, I've always loved those back country roads.  People who only travel the main roads miss so much. And there is so much to see in this great country we live in.

 John, Hey man, glad that piece did so well.  Like my granny used to say let Bygones be bygones.  Like it never happened.

 Hey Anna, I'm just getting into looking for bottles in creeks. You just can't hop into the water here.  You got to make sure you're not in  a 'gator hole or snake den. Labs are lovers and not fighters.  That's what makes them good pets.  Harley's big and has a bad bark, but he would actually lick an intruder to death.

 Georgia Peach, I Live below Augusta on US 1.  I work in Louisville, and that's pronunced "Lewisville" not "Louisville" by the folks here.  First permanent capital in Georgia.

 Thanks Pat, Don't know where the next trip will lead.


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## logueb

I forgot to tell you folks about the bell at the slave market.  Anyway, if I remember correctly, the bell was made in France and was headed to America for a French Convent or something.  It was stolen by Piarates and sold and wound up here.  Anyway here a pic of the bell.  This things been stolen several times.  They now have it mounted in cement.


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## logueb

Here's a closeup of one of those seals, I think that there are three or four and they all are marked alike.


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## logueb

I'm running short on time today, so let's take a short trip to my favorite digging spot. I usually don't take people but today I'll make an exception. You go first and I'll be right behind you.  Watch your step, them snakes are crawling this time of year.


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## logueb

Yep, that's the picture I promised of the Kudzu in full growth. Here's the same spot with the leaves killed back after a hard  frost. This is definately a winter dig spot.


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## logueb

How many of you folks like Ghost stories?  Well lets ride out to the ol  Haunted Mansion.  If I recall correctly this was once an orphanage.  It's located outside of town all by its lonesome.  Story goes that if a child misbehaved they were put up in a room in the attic.  Seems like they kept this one little feller up there a lot of the time.  He would lite a candle at night and put it in the window , hoping someone would come by and rescue him.  Story is that he died in his attic room.  They say you can see his little light some nights.  And people who have lived there say you can hear him crying at night. But you know how ghost stories are, and yeas I've seen the light when no is living there.  Place changes hands quite often.  Hmmm, wonder why.


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## cobaltbot

Those scuppernogs (SP?) look like awful big grapes.  Do they also grow wild?  I remember hearing of muskidines (sp?) in Tennessee, supposedly really big wild grapes.  The walkway looks great, I'll bet some unique plants grow there.  We live on the edge of survival for cypress.  There is some or used to be by the Chesapeake bay.  I tryed planting some little ones one time but 30 miles North up barely into PA where I live is way colder (cold valley) and they didn't make it.  I might try again.  We live in a very diversified area and there are over 40 species of trees that grow in my woods.


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## Whisperingwinds

Thank you for sharing.....I loved the trees... 
 A few years back I lived in Georgia.
 Many things are there for the finding. I miss it.
 After all, there are revenewers in them thar hills .lol
 which means lots of bottles too!
 -ww


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## logueb

Yea WW know all about them revoneers.  I would love to get some pics of those busted up stills I saw in the woods as a kid.

 Hey Cobalt, Hope this aerial pic helps show the carolina bay.  You will notice the difference that  the color of the canopy of the carolina bay differs from the surrounding forest in this picture.  That's because of the cypess trees that grow in the wet area of the bay.  They are changing colors and begining to go "bald". Also note that the walkway can be seen from the areial image.  Neat. And yes , the carolina bay has its own unique eco system.  About halfway out, when the bay is full of water, you would think that you were in the Okeefenokee Swamp.

 The wild grapes around here are called Bullises, or muscadine grapes.  I'll try to get you a pic.


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## tigue710

cool...  I spent 10 years of my life constantly traveling, never stayed anywhere longer then a couple mounths.  These rides are nice, and make me kinda home sick, but I guess it would be more van sick!  I did love the south while I was through there all the times I was...


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## RICKJJ59W

AAHHHH its nice here mabey I should hang around this thread awhile  the lurker thread is getting on my nerves [] rick


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## jwschaeffer

Buster, I went to engineer school in Georgia...I've been hooked to sweet tea ever since. Again ..awesome pics thanks for sharing!


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## logueb

John, Please tell me it wasn't Georia Tech, that ol arch rival of all of Bulldog Nation.[][].  Anyway, ever had a good cold glass of iced tea southern style ?  This is is the way we fix it when we're heading to the fields.  In a mason jar, put it in a sugar sack ( they were thick and double walled).  Enjoy.


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## jwschaeffer

Buster, I have had some excellent sweet tea...but never in a mason jar...I'm sure that would be very refreshing on a hot day in the fields. No I didn't go to Georgia Tech, I worked as a conductor, and went to Norfolk Southern's engineer school...cho cho u.


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## towhead

Very nice!  ....and beautiful dog!   ....and scuppernongs???


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## logueb

Thanks Julie, And I'll tell Harley.  You mean you have never had Scuppernongs, or Bullises ? 

 John, I'm very familiar with Norfork Southern.  Walmart truck  got cut in half last week in Bartow by a Northfork Southern.  Toothpaste, shampoo, and stuff everywhere.  Luckily nobody was hurt.


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## towhead

Yes, do tell Harley!  (I had a Yellow one just like him) And nope, never heard of Scuppernongs [] or Bullises....


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## woody

What are scuppernongs???

 Are they like a grape or something?


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## logueb

Well, Yall never heard of Scuppernongs or Bullises.  The Scuppernongs are cultivated varites of the Muscadine grapes.  They usually are bronze colored when ripe anad are like a white grape, but are larger and are very sweet.  The Bullis is a dark form of the Muscadine grape and they grow wild.  I have a large natural area of my yard where the Bullises grow wild.  They will grow up into trees and restrict the tree's growth eventually killing smaller weaker trees.  here's a pic of a bullis vine in a pine tree.


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## logueb

Here's a closeup of the vines with the bullises on them.


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## logueb

Well, While wer're walking around the yard let's see what other interesting things we can find.  I see that the Pampas grass is in full bloom.  These things are nice, but they make such a mess.


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## logueb

And what would a true Southern home be without a row of Crape Myrtles.


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## logueb

The banana trees aren't doing too well this year.  Made some one year just before a freeze came.  You do know that once they bear bananas that that stalk will rot and die?  Strange plant.  But small ones will spring up the next spring.


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## logueb

Pecan trees are a peculiar tree also.  One year with fruit, almost no fruit the next year.  This tree is on this year, but the squirrels will get these before the fruit ripens. Them little buggers is a nusiance, but I love to watch them play in the back yard.


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## logueb

Well, the deer have to eat during those winter months, so let's check on the acorn crop for this year.  Maybe with the recent rains they will fill out.


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## logueb

Persimmons are also a strange tree.  Seems like their must be  male and female trees.  Some of the trees bloom but never bear any fruit.  The skinnest, scrawniest tree in the yard always bears fruit.  Strange.


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## logueb

And what southern boy doesn't have a Catalpha tree growing in the yard.  Instant fish bait.  The Sphinx moth lays eggs on the leaves and they hatch  catapillars that will literally eat every leaf off the tree.  But once the catapillars go into the grount to form pulpas, the tree will grow a new set of leaves.  Dad burn birds done picked ever caltapha worm off my tree. Now I got to wait for a new crop.


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## logueb

The Catalpha tree grows long seed pods called beans.  The wind scatters the seed and grows new trees.  This tree was a volunteer that I moved out of the shrubs in front of the house.


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## logueb

If you want to attract butterflies then a good shrub to plant is an Abelia.


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## logueb

Well looks like another thunderstorm is making up, so I'd better get inside.  Thanks for looking .  And thanks to all those who prayed for rain.  Hope that Pat is getting some of this rain up in Carolina.  I'll look and see if I can locate some other interesting plants in the yard if you're interested.


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## logueb

Continuing our walk around the yard, we find the Trumpet Creeper Vine.  Old folks called it cow itch vine , for some reason.  The lots that I bought ajoining my property were covered with this stuff.  Slash and burn, slash and burn, is the only way to control this vine.  However, it does have a nice trumpeted flower.


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## logueb

I waited too late to get any pictures of the Mimosa tree in bloom.  But the seed pods are begining to turn brown and those husks will be all over the yard.  These trees don't usually live too long.  A lot will die over the winter and won't leaf out in the spring.


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## logueb

I almost forgot about the Confederate Rose Hibiscus.  Folks around here call them cottonwood.  The buds are putting on and for some strange reason this varity won't begin to bloom until October most years. Hopefully they will bloom early this year.


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## logueb

My Uncle (now deceased) gave me a couple of plants that he had rooted.  I know this sounds strange, but after the plant blooms and before a hard frost , you cut the limbs up in sections and place them in a bucket of water and leave them during the winter in the bucket of water.  The next spring they will have grown roots and will bud out.  Here's a stick that's ready to transplant.


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## logueb

My wife likes this Gardenia plant, but not me.  It smells like a Funeral Home to me.  Gives me the willeys.


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## logueb

Here's a better pic of the abelia bush, it has those long slender limbs that bend down with the weight of all those flowers.  It needs plenty of room.


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## logueb

Well, I guess you folks might be getting a little hungry after doing all this walking around the yard so how about some low country boil.  As soon as the shrimp come to the top this is going to be ready to eat.  Grab a bowl.  Wishing all you folks a great Labor day.  And hope you have some great digs. Buster.


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## Georgia Peach

I love Mimosa trees & have several in my yard.  In the 10 years at this location, I have had only one die & that was after my husband cut it back.  I blamed him, maybe I was wrong...[]  I found out recently from a park ranger here in Georgia that Mimosa's are not native plants to Georgia & are actually bad for the native plants & don't do anything for the animals.  That won't make me cut mine down, I love them!


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## EndlesDreamer

This has been one of the most pleasant car rides!  Has anyone ever told you what a great story teller you are? I live in Upstate NY and have never seen plants like yours. As for Scuppernongs/Bullisses, never heard of them, but Im wondering if theres a wine made with them. Had to laugh at your comment about Gardenias, I feel the same way about the smell of roses. (funeral home smell) Ohhh dont get me wrong, still love to get them! As for Harley, I have a Lab/Shep and seeing him you would think hes a tough guy, his bark is worse then his bite, hes a lover. He loves ice in his water too, bites at the ice to get it out of his bowl. Thanks for sharing, and cant wait to see more!  Lisa 
 How do you make southern sweet tea? Looks refreshing!


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## Trying not to break it

hi buster,  i just spent a long time typing  a post and it got wipe out.  love the tour and all the great pictures. so i'll keep  this short thanks,   rhona


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## EndlesDreamer

Buster 
 Last night I found some Garretts wine bottles. Did some researching and found out that scuppernongs were used for his wines. Thought I share some good old history.
 Starting from a small North 120 Carolina winery that went back to Sidney Weller in the 1830s, 
 Paul Garrett (1863â€”1940) eventually became the most successful of eastern winegrowers before
  Prohibition. His Virginia Dare wine, based on the native Scuppernong grape of the South, became 
 the most popular of American wines


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## ktbi

Hey Buster...Really enjoyed the pictures and story.  I used to live in Pensacola back in the early seventies and traveled a lot through the south.  Went to my first pig roast there.  Never in my life have I met such warm, friendly people - at least once you got past the stranger tag. It's been 30+ years and I still maintain contact with friends in the area.  Thanks for the pics...Ron


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## logueb

Thank all of you for the responses.  If you're  enjoying, I continue as long as Admin. lets me.  Got to find something every now and then, so it's a legit post.[]

 Georgia Peach, from what I have read the Mimosa trees don't like change, moving etc.  There is also a Mimosa plant.  I'll try to have to locate some of these.  Anyway, we had some of these plants when I was a kid.  When you stroke the leaves, they will close up because they are so sensetive to damage.

 Lisa,  Ok here's how to make sweetened ice tea.  There are probably countless varations.  Take two family size tea bags,  put them in a pot (boiler) with about a quart of water and boil.  After the recomended boiling time (on the box), set to the side and let the tea steep, (to sit awhile). Then pour the liquid into a gallon pitcher place two cups of sugar (real sugar not artifical sweetner) and stir until sugar disolves.  Finish filling pitcher with water .  Fill glass with ice and pour in tea and enjoy.  Or you can make it in the microwave, same as above but use a microwave safe container.  I guess you could use artifical sweetner, but pure refined cane sugar is what I like.

 Rhona,  I used to lose a lot of post before I began to copy each one before posting.  Just can't get over that dump with all those great milks.  Keep up the good work.

 Ron,  Down here we call it a pig pulling.  Grap a plate and pull off some bar-b-cued meat.  Like the one here from a Fire department Supper a while back.  Hope the pic comes out.  Is this what you remember?


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## logueb

Better grap a plate and get in line, these firemen are lined up and ready to eat.


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## logueb

Saw the cotton blooming the other day and thought that some of you may not have seen a cotton bloom or cotton bolls.  The plant blooms and then the boll forms after the bloom.  In the sections of the boll the cotton fibers form.  Late in the growing season the bolls will open revealing those white cotton bolls.  I'll try to get some pics later on when the fields are white.  Anyway, the cotton plant in bloom.


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## logueb

Here's a pic of the field.


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## logueb

I try to keep the camera handy, and I'm glad that I have it at times.  I had to back up the truck and take a second look at this one.  Never seen this technique used in a landscape  before .  So do you call it a "rose bed" or  "a bed of roses".  Wish that the roses had been in bloom.


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## logueb

How often do you see Llamas grazing by the roadside.  Had to snap a photo for you folks.


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## capsoda

Hey Bruce, I know a whole lot more than I ever wanted to about cotton. Those bolls wil cut you to shreads after they dry so you use boll gloves for hand pickin. I know what a 100lb pickin sack is too. []

 I tought the wife what the difference is between short cotton and tall cotton and where the saying came from. "Your in tall cotton now". She is a city girl but she caught on.[]


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## logueb

So Cap, You know about the burlap bag with a shoulder strap(also made of burlap), hot autum days , long endless rows, fingers bleeding from those dried cotton boll burrs, weighing cotton on a pea scale, working all day under a hot sky for a few dollars of spending money? A jar of ice water on your cotton sheet under a shade tree. But can't drink it all at one time, because it's going to be a long hot day. Were those the good old days ?  Or merely a period of time embedded in our memory that we would not want to return to?  Everybody knows what a pea scale is , right?


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## capsoda

A cocolar and thick ham samich for lunch and a 30 min nap. Man, you could make 5 bucks a day if you hussled. [] Them was the good ole days cause we didn't know better and merely a period of time embedded in our memory that we would not want to return to.

 But I wouldn't trade the memories, calouses and blisters for anything.[]


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## OsiaBoyce

Jeezus how old are yall two wait I just rembered where yall live. I'm proud to say "I never picked cotten,but my mother and my father did. No he didn't die young in a coal mine"rember that song. When I was born in 59 they went and got my grandmother who was picking cotten at the time. Them sacks you were talking about had other uses....like breaking corn,God I hated that job. I begged my daddy to get a corn picker then he bought a used one. Know how many times we used it? One time. Then it was Soy Beans and pulling weeds,I begged him to buy Treflan then.Pulling Red Root,Coffe Bean then grabbing a Pig Weed having your hands punched full of holes,Cokelburs all over ya and if there was any room begger lice. Lest we not forget those square bales of hay. Let me put Paula to bed hang on.


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## capsoda

Hey Pat, Picking cotton was part of summer camp and how I paid for summer camp. The camp leader dudes mom fed us. Boy could she cook. I did pick cotton for a man near home along with melons of all types and sizes, greens, peas and beans. Picking up Coke bottles didn't always pay enough. [] 

 I was done with all that kinda stuff by the time I was 12. I could make alot more throwing papers.


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## OsiaBoyce

I guess it's a regional thing to. I don't really remember seeing cotten grow till I was 12 or so. I think it died out here in the 50s. My grandaddy planted 100 acres one time I guess around 1950 and my daddy ran away from home and joined the army so he wouldn't have to pick it,didn't hear from him till he was on his way to Korea,but before he went he bought a Rocket 88 [or when he got back] let his brother use it and,well you know it was a Rocket 88 key word being WAS. Picking watermelons is probably the hardest job there is I think it was worse than baleing hay. You ever notice those hay fields in my post?  Thats just a small part of the fields we used to have. We used to bale close to a thousand gross acres a year. That was tough and we never had water or what we had didn't last long. Ya know I hadn't thought of that in years.


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## logueb

Growing up in rural Georgia was an experience full of memories that will last forever. Sometimes I look back and wonder if I would  trade the modern wonders of today to return to those carefree days of summer and autums of years gone but. After the store was stocked, the yards raked/swept (we didn't have grass), the garden picked and put in the freezer, and all the other chores done, then we could go work (for pay) for other folks.  I've picked cotton by the pound  picked peas and butterbeans by the bushel, pulled corn, stacked hay and much more for spending money.  But the worst job I ever agreed to do was pick Velvet Beans for my Uncle.  My cousin talked me into it.  He told me to wear a long sleeve shirt and never, never, never scratch, no matter how bad I began to itch.( I had to stop and scratch just typing this...memory is a powerful thing). Well after about two crocker sacks full of dried velvet beans I began to itch, I began to scratch, my cousin began to scratch.  We lit out for the swimming hole in a nearby creek.  Went swimming the rest of the day.  Uncle was not happy.  Velvet beans are worst than fiberglas.

 Cap and Pat, when was the last time you saw a yard swept with a gallberry broom?


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## capsoda

Used to help Grandma Netty do that. John "Catfish" Netty would give me a nickle. Big bucks back then.

 When I got older I helped him cut the pigs and feed up. It paid 50 cent. He told me and my little brother to go dump a wash tub full of squeezins and we fed it to the sow. She broke out and ran off but we found her an hour or so later. We though she was dead but she had passed out. took 6 grown men and me and my bro to get her up in the pick up.[sm=lol.gif]  He never ask use to dump the squeezins again.

 Wish I knew where all his grand daddies jugs got of to. He was in his seventies when I was 12.


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## logueb

Friend of mine brought me a sack full of these today.  Now surely Grandma Netty would have one of these bushes growing in that swept yard.  I wish that I could find a yard that was still being swept with a gallberry broom.  Anyway, what's this fruit Cap and Pat.  It was used for medicinal purposes, mouth ulcers, diarehea, even was supposed to help with bed-wetting.


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## logueb

Sorry about that , wrong picture.  Try this one.


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## logueb

Let me cut open one of these so we can see the inside.


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## capsoda

Pomegranates. Everybody had a pomegranate bush in there yard. Right along side the dwarf Japanese Persimmon tree.


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## OsiaBoyce

The other nite writing this brought back a lot of memories. I wouldn't want to do that kind of work again but,would love to spend time w/ my family esp. the departed ones. Picking penuts sucked too that took forever to pick a bushel. Now for cutting hogs. For my 15th birthday I got two gilts and made some money. My dear ole Pop seen that and the next thing you know we were raising hogs on a big time basis. Had about 30 brood sows to go along w/ a 100 brood cows and three chiken houses. Oh cutting hogs man that was tuff I never would and still want cut no pig I'll hold em you cut em. Did ya ever let them go too long fore ya cut em. Pigs squealing,sows having a fit hoping they want get out and try to kill ya. Never had any extra time to help others till I was 15 then went to work in the peach packing sheds. We raise a whole lot of peaches here I mean a whole lot something like 40% of nations total and 10% of nations chicken. Everybody worked the sheds when we were in school. Now they got nothing but Mexicans. Which makes me say "Support Osama hire a Mexican". I guess that's not PC. Wonder what kids do now for money. Nothing.


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## OsiaBoyce

For those that don't know what we mean by "cutting pigs" that is to castrate them. Male or boar hogs when not cut are inedible must be the testosterone. In defence of my porcine friends pigs are really smart. If they get out of the pen they'll come back at nite that's when you trap em off. They keep their eating area as clean as possible and if you don't have them in a brood house and they are in the woods they will build a nest to have little ones in. I've seen hog beds that were 16 ft. sq. and two ft. high you would find them when you started finding broken bushes. And never ever pick up a baby pig,mama hogs have no sence of humor when it comes to their young.New subject never seen a Gallberry broom I have seen used a broomstraw broom,my grandma used one. I've seen old people sweep there yards now that's something you don't see anymore. Oh I see a ride coming up. Hey Buster I was thinking along the same lines as you the other week when you aid something about stills,I used to know where some big ones where,but let's let it cool off more.


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## logueb

Pat and Cap,  Here's one for you guys.  Ever heard of living on the "Quarter".  Comes from back in the day when a lot of folks sharecropped.  Sharecropping was playing out when I was a youngster.  I remember seeing cotton pickers when they were first introduced in our neck of the woods.  It was mounted on a John deere tractor.  The tractor ran in reverse and had to have a special steering section added.  The farmers said it left too much cotton in the field, and would be about as short lived as the Edsiel automotible.  Well, they kept improving on those cotton pickers and the need for hand picking and field hands was soon gone forever. Most of the houses on those "quarters" are also gone.  Why they were painted red with white trim has always puzzled me.  Sometimes there were several houses , barns, sheds and even sometimes stores on these farms.  My Grandad on Mamma's side was an Overseer ever since the family lost the family farm during the great depression.  Seems like my greatgrandfather had borrowed money for a dowry against the farm and after the depression hit,  the bank foreclosed on the note and sold the land. He was the overseer for different farmers during his lifetime.  When you mentioned the peach shed, it brought back memories.  On one farm they had huge peach orchards and ran a packing shed.  Peach fuzz and hot weather under a peach packing shed don't mix.  So this all leads up to the question.  What is the difference in the two houses in the attached photos.  Look at that rain hitting on that tin roof.  Brings back memories of days gone by.


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## logueb

Second house.


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## OsiaBoyce

I think I know why they were painted red. If I remember correctly I read that because the reds primary pigment was ferric in nature hence it was the cheapest paint that there was. Economics on the farm even went to the cheapest paint and now for some reason red is the most expensive paint. Thats the reason for red houses and barns even though I've only seen one barn in my life painted red


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## OsiaBoyce

This is what one of our pastures looks like from my bedroom deck and this is only about a quarter of this pasture. Imagine being 14 90 degrees out and seeing this place covered with bales of hay. Nowdays w/ the fireants you can't bale hay and pick it up the next day for they will build a nest under every bale The last time we bale square bales in 1990 thats the way it was.


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## OsiaBoyce

There's something I've noticd riding w/ you is the old houses. Well see mine burnt about 10 yr. and been building this one sense off and on not much in the past year or two just about burnt out on it, but I'm just about through. The way I did it was tear town OLD houses and barns and I'm out of houses and barns now don't know what happened to them in the past 30 yrs. What I'm hunting for is some 6 in. unpainted beaded board like this.


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## OsiaBoyce

Or some plank flooring like this


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## OsiaBoyce

Or this


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## OsiaBoyce

I don't need much Paula says it's about time to finnish and my Ma is on my case about it too,and I'm almost 50. This is my BR walls. This is what I want the beaded boar for. Run it vertical.


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## OsiaBoyce

I need floors and walls for my pool room here. Now it's a junk room. And walls for my wash room[no pics of that but small room]. I'm proud to say I have almost no sheetrock mostly wood,brick or stone. And one piece of black and white marble for my bath which is another story. So if you know of anyone who has a house or barn they want tore down or sell [as long as they don't think it's gold] I know I'm not that far from ya, what hour and a half. I'm not exactly sure where Lewisville is S. of Augusta I guess. I know I've heard Weather Bob mention it and I know we both have watched 12 and 6. And I stay right on 20. Let me know something.


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## logueb

Pat, Let me do some checking around.  There were some houses scheduled to be torn down here.  They even pay through some type of grant monies  to get them torn down.  But there is the clause that all the building material  has to be removed from the lots after the demolition.  May be a little more than you will need to finish the job.  I know a guy that tears down old houses for the materials.  I'll see if I can locate him and see if he has what you're looking for at a resonable price.


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## capsoda

Yep, I remember folks who lived on the quarter and sometimes lived on the split with a brother. My great aunt Blance had a business on the line. She ran a red house and galley on the line, Zarragosa Street, Pensacola, Fl.


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## marjorie040

I can't help myself....I have to ask...
 What are "squeezins"


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## capsoda

Hey Marjorie, Most of use back wood dewellers know about squeezins. They are the leftover mash (corn mixture) from making white lightning. The lightining is also sometimes refered to Squeezins.

 Hey Pat, The house is lookin good.[] 

 You guys ever have middlins and bullits with catheads and sorgum for breakfest???  [&:] Geez, I aint had me no vittles for breakfest yet. Ponderin on gittin me some rat now.[]


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## marjorie040

Thanks Warren....!!
 I learn so much from this forum!!
 And I've really enjoyed the Long Way Home pictures and the dialogue. How much the world has changed!!
 Regards,


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## marjorie040

P.S. I wasn't born in the South.....but I got here as fast as I could!
 (hence my uneducation on matters such as squeezins!)


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## capsoda

That is great Marjorie. Outside the BIG cities, we don't expect much more than a wave and a "hey" and we don't get in to much of a hurry either. You can't always see a college education on us or tell much about us by the way we look or sound. In the south you will meet corporate presidents and millionares in blue jeans and tee shirts and farmers in cadillacs. it is always a surprise untill you get to the Gulf Coast. So many people have come down and tried to make it like back home that we now have kind of a mess. People rushing all around for nuttin and everybody rides in a vehicle by themselves. They look at you funny when you through up a wave and smile whit a "hey following. Not to friendly at all. Can make you sad if you are not a happy type person. 

 The south is easy. It is family, friends, a smile and at a slow pace to boot. Wouldn't have it any other way.[]


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## logueb

Somebody gave my wife this plant, I don't have a clue as to what it's called.  The other day it was blooming, but before I could get a picture the bloom had fallen off after a rain.  Well, yesterday I happened to have the camera.  Does anybody know what type plant this is?  It has long stems, this one is about 5 feet tall.


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## logueb

closeup of the bloom.


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## logueb

How many of you folks ever cut a tree with a crosscut saw, plowed a mule, split rails, made cane syrup?  Here's a little thing I thought up.  See how many of these common items that were used on farms you can identify.

 Item # 1


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## logueb

Item #2


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## logueb

Item # 3


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## logueb

Item # 4


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## logueb

Item #5


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## logueb

Item #6


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## logueb

Item # 7


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## logueb

Item # 8


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## logueb

Item # 9


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## logueb

Item # 10


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## capsoda

I think I see a wippletree, a plow wrench, an adjustable plow nuckle, a plowshare, a coffee grinder, a set of hames, a stove plate handle, a draw knife and a swivel grab hook with out the swivel. I have seen the item in pic two but can't think of the name off hand but I do recognize the cow bell.

 How did I do.[]


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## OsiaBoyce

Cotton scale and a pea


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## logueb

Cap, 8 out of 10 , that's pretty good.  Pat's right on #2 , the ol cotton scale and pea.  The pea has a hole in the bottom for calabration. Lead is poured in or can be taken out.  Have heard stories of farmers whose scales weighed "lighter".  As Cap can verify, you know how much that you can pick in a day, and you hate to get short-changed after a long hot day in the sun.

 Item #10 is  a pair of Ice Tongs. Probably should have done a better pic.  These were used to carry those large blocks of ice that you bought at the Ice house.  Before refrigeration, there were Ice Plants that made ice using ammonia and brine water.  These frozen blocks were stored in ice houses and bought by the block.  These blocks could be placed in the "ice box" the forerunner of the modern day fridge.  Remember taking an ice pick to those large blocks?

 Pat, This pair of tongs are hand forged and have  a name stamped into the side. W J  Hills. There was a W J  Hills from South Carolina listed on the web that was in the Civil War.  Suppose he could have become a blacksmith after the war?


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## marjorie040

Hey Logueb, I got #10!!
 This Connecticut Yankee got 1 out of 10 and I'm Proud!!!
 Thanks for sharing, I love your stories!


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## logueb

Well, Looks like Cap was the winner on that little display.  So he wins a trip to the Fire station and the recipe for the famous Firehouse 'nanna pudding.  Those guys love this stuff, but I don't understand why.  It's not the kind that Granny used to fix in the oven. Like everything else today, it's instant.

 Two E-One Pumpers ready to roll.  A 2003 and a 2007.  Not bad for a small town Volunteer Fire Dept.


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## logueb

Closeup.


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## logueb

Well Cap, Here we go. Now this is the large recipe version, for feeding those hungry firemen.  First take a large aluminum roasting pan.  Add one box of 'nilla waffers.  Slice one bunch of bananas.


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## logueb

When the first bunch is sliced, pour in the second box of waffers. Then slice up the second bunch.


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## logueb

Next pour a gallon of milk into a large bowl, and add three large and one small box of vanilla instant pudding.  I know, you would think banana pudding, but nope, it's vanilla.


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## logueb

Mix up real good.


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## logueb

When it starts to thicken up, pour over the bananas and wafers.


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## logueb

Now, let that chill while the whip topping thaws.


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## logueb

Spread the whip topping , and there you have an instant dessert.  Yall didn't think that I could cook.  Folks don't try the large recipe at home, or you'll be eating banana pudding for a month.


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## logueb

Well, wer're gonna need a large pot to cook enough low country boil to feed these hungry firemen.  Hope this one is large enough.  Custom made of rolled stainless steel.


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## logueb

This recipe calls for rutabagas.  Ever had rutabagas in a low country boil.


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## logueb

Well. after the sausage, onions, potatoes, corn and shrimps are added , this thing is ready to eat.  Catch you folks later, i hear them hungry firemen pulling up.


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## capsoda

I will step into my jump suit, grab my gear and be right there. Man I aint had no low boil in years but I think I will remedy that this weekend and I have never met a nanner puddin I couldn't make friedsa with.

 Some great lookin sprinklers you got there. E-Ones huh. You guys are livin large with that kind of power. I inheireted a 53 Reo duce that was full military, wouldn't stop and the La France 150 pump wpuldn't pump but about 35 because it was full of mud and rust and had WW2 type packings in it. There was also a 68 Chevy stubby type pumper and a 53 Dodge carryall. Working with the community board, the Alabama Fire Chiefs Assn. and the state we got some roads paved and some tax money for volunteer fire stations in the state. We went from savin septic tanks and chimenys to a well trained and equiped team of fire fighters. They now have new pumpers and tankers and all the newest gear. They scare the hell outa me like kids with a loaded gun. 

 Me and my bro have a 275' deep well with an 24" casing that we are putting  four  6" pumps in so at least we will be ok.


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## logueb

Thought you would like the Fire Dept stuff Cap.  911 was areal eye-opener for a lot of people.  We struggled for years with outdated equipment, pumpers that may or may not pump, not enough bunker gear to go around, very few SCBAs , etc.
 I remember the days of "well at least you saved the chimneys and steps".  I pulled down a chimney with a pike pole one night. I told the crew "you didn't save anything else and I'm not going to leave the chimney standing".  The grants and money from local and state agencies has been  a blessing for the fire departments across America. Fire departments had been on the back burner of budgets for many years.  I just hope that the funding continues and just doesn't dry up.
 Do you see anything unusual in this photo of the old Baptist parsonage?  Looks like you typical toc two story wood frame house , right?


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## logueb

Well, take a look around back.  The Volunteer firefighter's nightmare.  Two story building, fat lighter wood, and the back fully involved with flames coming out the windows when you arrive. No ladder trucks in this town.


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## logueb

Possible gas leak explosion in the kitchen area.  Lady who owned the house was in the front part of the house when the explosion occured.  Sometimes you just get lucky.  The kitchen and small bed room above it were an add-on to the original structure, so the original outside wall helped serve as a firewall.  Still, 4 hours in 100 degree weather is tough.  Training, training, and more training.  there is never enough training.  Interior attack through the front to push the fire back through the kitchen and keep it out of the main structure.  However, I always stress safety and I never send firemen into a building that I wouldn't go in.  Yes, I suited up and helped on this one. We could not have saved this one with the outdated equipment we had before 911.


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## capsoda

If the main structure would have become involved, I would imagine that the chimeny type construction of the exterior walls would have caused a full conflageration and made it impossible to fight. You guys did good saving it at all. Good work.


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## logueb

Thanks Cap, That small room above the kitchen was being used as a walk in closet.  Luckily the door was closed slowing the migration of the fire into other rooms of the main structure.  The top half of the door burned off, allowing all of that super heated smoke to fill the main part of the structure. I went upstairs to determine if fire had entered the attic , with luck it had not. I don't know the temperature in that second story, several hundred degrees I imagine. A couple of the  firemen had to be rehydrated, even though we were rotating resources.


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