What Else Has Been Going On in July

I am almost finished posting my Oregon photos--today I will download the ones from my phone and post those. I have been doing other things this month, really I have!

Most of what I've been doing is storytelling. July is always a big month for me with library Summer Reading programs. I hit the ground running when we returned with three programs as soon as I got home, and then followed up with six performances the following week. The gardens have managed pretty well while I've been gone so much, thanks to lots of rain (LOTS!). A small tornado passed through while we were away one weekend but fortunately missed our place by a couple miles.

Last week, though, we had a really wild time.

You see, while I was gone overnight on a storytelling trip, Larry managed to roll the riding mower and cut his fingers pretty badly. He also broke two of them. This was just before three of my sisters were coming to visit, and I still had another day of storytelling to do. His hand was a real mess--and he did it at 3:00 in the afternoon and was still cutting grass with that bloody mangled hand when I got home at 6:00! He said, "Just wrap it up and tape it, it will be fine." I about fainted looking at it, it was so bad. After some persuasion ("I'm going to call an ambulance if you don't go with me now!") he agreed to go. He slipped in the shower and blood went flying everywhere. It looked like a murder scene in there by the time I got him cleaned up and dressed.

So about 40 stitches and much bandaging later, we got home around midnight. I was up and out early the next morning for my last summer reading programs and our son Derek took Larry to the VA Clinic for follow-up. The next morning I did not like the look of his swelled-up hand, called the VA and we were off to the VA hospital a couple hours away to have it looked at again. Meantime, my sisters were on their way here. I called them, told them to make themselves at home until we could get back. Derek (who wins Best Son Prize this month!) offered to cook dinner at his house that evening. His barbecued chicken is the best I've ever eaten, and his grilled bread and veggies are excellent too. So that wild day ended on his patio with a nice fire in the firepit, good conversation and time to finally relax.

Liz looking like a movie star--
and Theresa caught in the act of dishing up some salsa!
Judy got lucky and missed out on getting snapped.

The next morning my sisters and I took off junking. We hit a good sale in town, visited my booth at the Ravenswood mall, then drove over to Pomeroy for lunch at the Wild horse. Who knew it was Blues & Brews week in Pomeroy? Lots of traffic, music and people but the Wild Horse, with its outside covered deck overlooking the river, was a perfect place to eat--and their food is awesome.

We wound up that day with a fire in our own firepit, lots of laughter and conversation. Next morning was blueberry pancakes, sausage, and breakfast on the deck, and then my sisters left for home, and my house was quiet once more.

Larry's hand is healing nicely. I've had a little time to do some cleaning of this house which has been neglected for weeks, and even got started on organizing the workshop in the new room--the room is nowhere near finished but I don't care. I desperately need a place to work besides all over the house. One day maybe we'll get it done but my need for space to paint and repair has taken priority. It's covered, it's heated, it's lighted and it will do.

I've also been working on my upcoming performances for the Inland Waterways Festival this weekend in Marietta, starting August off right with storytelling. I have found so many intriguing facts, legends and stories about the Ohio River and the areas surrounding it I will have a hard time deciding what to tell. Today I'll be whittling and honing the list, a fun task with such a wealth to work with.

That's a little bit of a catch-up. There's more of course, but that can be a later post!

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Saturday's Sternwheelers in Pomeroy

We didn't get to Pomeroy until late Saturday afternoon and Larry was pretty tired, but I did convince him to stick around long enough for me to take a few photos of the sternwheelers in town for the annual Meigs County Sternwheeler Festival.

I love these boats. Maybe it's because they're a throwback to another time. I won't say a simpler time because I do believe people were just as busy, if not busier, then as they were forging a new nation, clearing land, establishing local governments, and discovering new and exciting methods of travel. 

 The steamboat trade on the inland waterways began in 1811 and picked up steam (pun intended) through the century, finally losing ground to the railroads and eventually to automobiles and trucks. But in their day, the boats were all over the place, carrying people and cargo from one community to another, billowing black smoke from their stacks, blowing their whistles and generally producing a lot of racket.

 And then of course there were the floating palaces, the showboats, that brought entertainment to remote places, and probably brought a good bit of trouble too with gambling and shifty types looking for opportunities to enrich themselves at the expense of the local population. But what excitement they produced with their steam calliopes playing music, hawkers running through the streets with handbills, gaslights blazing at night, and all the mystery of faraway places suggested by their arrival!

The sternwheelers today are strictly pleasure boats; the big ones still travel on river excursion cruises, providing luxury accommodations for those who can afford the (to me) high price of the trip.

 And then there are these gorgeous smaller sternwheelers, what might have been called packet boats back in the day of steam as they usually carried the "packets" of mail. Today these are usually privately owned or used for short excursion trips for tourists in river towns.

 Small or large, there is just something about these boats. Maybe it's their stacks, or their paddlewheels, or their perk shapes,

or maybe it's their bells and wood steering wheels, or their steam whistles...

 I don't know, but I never tire of looking at them and I will get on board whenever an opportunity presents itself.

Other boats were in town too, and the Ohio was big enough for them all on this beautiful day.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Last Week's Storytelling Trail

Last week was a week of storytelling variety. I told stories with another storyteller and a musician on a boat as it traveled the Ohio River--we swapped back and forth with songs and stories, spinning from each other as the boat carried us up the river and back again to the pretty little town of Pomeroy where the Steamboat Festival was being held.

I told stories in an assisted living facility where my uncle now lives, telling stories from my childhood and inviting the audience to share their stories too. A couple of them actually did so, and it was my pleasure to hear them.

I told ghost stories with a friend at a library to kick off a festival celebrating a strange paranormal occurrence in the town in the 1960's, the Mothman.

Jason Burns and I swapped back and forth; sometimes he would tell a story that reminded me of a story or a ballad, and then he'd follow me with a story that I had reminded him of. Although we both came with lists of what we planned to tell, we didn't quite follow those lists and instead let the stories roll naturally, one from another.

I told stories with a dulcimer playing friend for people learning arts and old-time crafts at Cedar Lakes in my town of Ripley. My friend Heidi Muller, one of the best dulcimer players in the country, played tunes and again we played off of each other, tying what we did next to what the other had just done. I love this way of storytelling because it's informal and spontaneous.

Finally, on Saturday night I told stories for people coming to learn self-sufficiency and homesteading skills.

For each of these groups the stories were different. On the sternwheeler cruise, I told stories from the early days of steamboat travel on the river.

For the seniors at the assisted living facility, I told personal stories ffrom my growing up years. I have no photos from there or from Cedar Lakes because I forgot to ask someone to take them.


At the Chickens in the Road Retreat, I tried to introduce the camp attendees to life in these mountains and to the richness of the culture that surrounded them, using stories, ballads and conversation. The night was beautiful, with the storytelling beginning just as the sun went down. The only photos I have, unfortunately, are of that gorgeous sunset because once again I was busy telling stories and did not think to ask someone to take photos (can you tell that Larry was not with me for these trips?).

It was a perfect ending to a week of stories. I feel so blessed to be able to live this life, and to share stories with so many people in so many different places.


Copyright 2012 Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Sisters, Babies, Friends and A Busy Weekend

I haven't written in a few days, so this is a catch-up post about what's been going on at my house:

Junking Friday! Julie and I hit Spencer, WV to explore the resale and antique shops. We only got through half of them. Which means we need to do another trip when she comes again, right?

We especially enjoyed the antique mall in Spencer. While many items in the mall are technically not antiques, we found great vintage items and even a set of new dish towels for me.

A view of one aisle of the mall. You can see why I got a parking ticket; who knew we were in there more than an hour? The time flew by.

Back home, the guys worked on an electric fence to protect one of my gardens. Last year the deer and rabbits got more green beans than I did. This year I intend to win. (Intend being the operative word, probably.) You can see who's doing the work! And you'll have to ask Larry about the pie tim with peanut butter on it. Will something like that really trick deer?

Saturday was a busy day as we prepared for my granddaughter's baby shower. Her sisters Cassie and Kate and stepmom Jennifer arrived from Virginia late the night before, but everyone was settled on air mattresses by midnight to be ready for the big day. In the morning, Larry and Julie's husband found the amount of female energy a bit overwhelming and vamoosed early for the Downtowner and tractor places while the wimmens went in many directions to pick up supplies and food for the shower.

It all came together after 3 or 4 trips back to my house for needed or forgotten items. By 1:45 pm the table looked like this:

and the cake looked like this.

We used a lot of my vintage crystal and a few tablecloths and it did look pretty. Jennifer, Kate and Cassie did the decorating--I mostly drove up and down the road to get things, it seemed! But I was there in time to help put the veggie tray together and organize the punch bowl.

As you can see, Jordan is really showing now, with only 6 weeks left to her due date.

The gifts piled up and up and up. About 50 people attended, including two very special guests--my father's brother Uncle Barney and his wife, Aunt Georgette. Uncle Barney was just about the only male in attendance and he was the King of the party in my eyes.

We pulled most of the crew together for a photo (Jaime is missing because she took the picture--thank you, Jaime!):

Five generations together, counting baby girl Cadyn, the expected next generation.

Saturday night Jackie organized a fish fry with catfish, wings, french fries, red beans and rice, cole slaw and more. I was so busy visiting (and snoozing a while on the couch, I admit) that I forgot to take photos of the good food or the bonfire Derek put together. Even though the weather was drizzly, we stayed out by the fire for many hours. Larry and I headed home to bed several hours before most of the crowd gave it up.

Sunday morning was pancake breakfast at my house. Jennifer cooked while I put away air mattresses, blankets and pillows. We then said good bye to Jennifer and the girls, while Jackie and Larry headed to Derek's to clean up the cookout mess.

While they were gone we got a call from the Cow Run Contingent--daughter-in-law Jaime and her daughter Michaela, and friends Andrea, Amy and Odie. They stopped over for a visit and shared some good stories and laughter with us. Andrea and Amy gifted us with their singing of The Two Sisters. Absolutely beautiful to hear them and see them singing in front of the fireplace. A perfect setting.

We wrapped up the weekend with a trip to Pomeroy, Ohio for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, the Wild Horse (situated right on the banks of the Ohio River) to celebrate Julie's birthday a day early.

After a leisurely meal and good conversation, Julie and I tried to take photos of the new bridge across the river and the barge that was passing by, but my shots are not very good. Still you can see a bit of the bridge...

and maybe a little more in this zoom shot. The old bridge, due to be removed, looks ghostlike behind the modern, blue-lighted new bridge.

The weekend had to end, sadly. Julie and I still have things we want to do--we read and sorted my parents' old letters and memorabilia, which brought back memories and raised more than one question. We need to finish that project. There are more places I want to visit with her, and so many more things to talk about. It's my turn to travel her direction next so that we can continue the complete pleasure that is being sisters.

Until then, there is the family reunion to look forward to in May, when all eight sisters will be together again.

Weekend with Maggie

My sister Maggie (the seventh child in our family of 13 children) and her husband Roger drove up from Maryland to visit over the weekend. What a great time we had.

We cooked, talked, went junking (and got very cool bargains), had dinner on the banks of the Ohio River in Pomeroy, listened to the riverfront jazz concert as we strolled the streets of the quaint town, had a cookout with friends and family and listened to the fiddle music of our friend Odie by the patio firepit until the wee hours this morning.

I was sad to see Maggie and Roger leave--it was a weekend I hope we repeat in the coming years.

A few minutes after they left, my grandchildren Grace and Clayton arrived for a week with Granny and Poppa Larry. Should be a wild time!

(Blogger is acting up--again--or is it Hughesnet? So I'll have to share the photos later.)