Granny Sue's News and Reviews

Thursday, July 2, 2026

A Hot Week

72°f, hot and humid. 88° already at 11am.

And here he is! Mama Hannah and little Sutton are both doing well. I have not yet seen him, but will wait until she is home and settled to do that. Meanwhile, my son Derek is at Hannah's house, caring for her other children. He's a good Pawpaw.

The moon Tuesday night, just beautiful.

My current morning tea "set".

We have been out getting our booths ready for the July 4th weekend. Usually we do both in one day, but it is too hot to be out working in the afternoons, so we did it on two mornings this week. Yesterday we were in Ravenswood and picked up lunch afterwards, to eat in the car at the little park right by the river.

The old Sayre log cabin.

It boggles my mind that a walking bridge would cost over 2 million dollars! I think the intent is to bridge Sand Creek and make a walking route from town to the park, which is a little ways from downtown.

More construction at the park. The sign says this will be a welcome center. I had heard that it was going to be a waterfront restaurant, which would be so nice. A welcome center? Meh. That won't benefit the town or our county residents at all.

We have been staying inside during the afternoons. Larry's skin cancer creams have made his skin highly sensitive to the sun, and it's just too miserable to be out anyway. We are getting a lot of squash and cucumbers, some broccoli and a few small tomatoes from the garden. The beans need to be picked, but that will just have to wait. The heat should break Sunday. I hope!

And last, a friend posted this recently. Sums up this weather.

Wednesday, July 1, 2026

Mingo Flats Road

75°f/23.9°C already at 8am. Apparently that African dust cloud from the Sahara has made its way here. Yuck.Andrea! Oh, and rabbit, rabbit, rabbit!

Hannah's little boy was born yesterday after a rather difficult birth. Poor girl. I am so glad it is over, and he is a fine, healthy, big boy!

I first discovered this little road in 2009. The name intrigued me, and I had noticed that the road made a loop, returning to the main road a few miles away. This is in Randolph county, WV.

The post office is no longer in the abandoned store, of course. Apparently it was consolidated with the post office in Valley Head, not far away.

The surprise is coming upon this beautiful bronze sculpture, hidden along this narrow, rarely traveled little road.

The statue is an homage to the Mingo natives who lived in this area, surprising to learn as I had no idea that tribe had come this far east and south.

Unfortunately the writing on the monument has worn away to being unreadable.

However, I did find this on the Randolph-Elkins Tourism website:

"This monument is erected in memory of the passing of the “Red Man.” An Indian village was located near this place according to local tradition. It was frequented by the Mingo tribe, and at one time was an Iroquois outpost – Mingo Iroquois, meaning “Foreign Service”. The Mingoes are said to have been expelled by the Iroquois for disloyalty. This village was on the trail from the Lakes to the South, but had been abandoned prior to the coming of the “Pale Face”. From this tradition came the name of the present village. The Magisterial District and the adjacent stream – Mingo Run. Tal-gah-Jute-John Logan-The Mingo Chief, is supposed to have used this habitat. He was terrible in war-fare, yet humane in peace and was a factor in Colonial History."

How much of that is true, who knows? But it is good to know what the faded words once said.

A gate behind the monument seems to lead only to a steep, overgrown hillside.

This sign to the right of the Mingo promised more to see on this out-of-the-way road.

I'm pretty sure it was further than 3/4 of a mile, but then the road was so curvy, who could tell? After a few minutes of twists and turns, there stood the monument to Confederate general Robert E. Lee, just as it had when I first ventured back here, all alone on a quiet rise.

According to The Clio website, "August 1861, General Robert E. Lee took command of Confederate forces in western Virginia. The Rebel army encamped around Valley Mountain, near Mingo, in Randolph County. The soldiers endured cold temperatures, incessant rain, and mud. Sickness ravaged the camps and many died. The Confederates left to assault Cheat Mountain, where they were defeated in September. In 1913, the United Confederate Veterans dedicated a monument to the Confederate soldiers of Randolph County and those who died in the camps at Valley Mountain. It was rededicated in 2013 by the Sons of Confederate Veterans."

The Clio article goes on to say that over 40 men were killed in battle and buried on the Jacob Marshall farm, where this monument was erected.

Today, it is a quiet serene place, with no echoes from that bloody, violent past to disturb the peace.

I turned around and drove slowly back the way I came, thinking about what it must have been like back in 1861.

Click here to read my post about my first visit to Mingo Flats, back in 2009.

Tuesday, June 30, 2026

Wordless Wednesday: Around West Virginia

72°f/22.2°C, but already 80° by 9am.

Ellen pointed out that I posted this on Tuesday! Ah me. I really thought it was Wednesday.

Meanwhile, granddaughter Hannah is having her (3rd) baby today, so hold her in your thoughts and prayers!

Photos from my weekend roadtrip to Pocahontas County:

CThe State is putting up these swings everywhere, and in my opinion, ruining a lot of beautiful views.

This one is at Big Ditch Lake, near Birch River, WV.

The old mill at Millpoint. A young man was restoring it on his own dime, but I have not seen him there the last few times I have been by. You can see inside and reas more about the mill in this post from 2014. Yes, I stopped in the middle of the road to take this photo. There isn't much traffic here, so no worries.