Bluff Spring Journal

Bluff Spring Journal

January 2006

Hope you had your blackeyed peas and turnip greens on New Years Day. You sure want to have a year of good luck. Of course making your own luck would probably be a better idea. But, if you don't like black eyed peas you can check out some of these other traditions.

A German/Pennsylvania Dutch tradition is to eat pork and sauerkraut on New Year's day for good luck.
It is a Cuban tradition to eat 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight. The 12 grapes signify the last twelve months of the year.
German folklore says that eating herring at the stroke of midnight will bring luck for the next year.
Eating pickled herring as the first bite of the New Year brings good luck to those of Polish descent.
Also from the south comes the custom of eating greens such as cabbage, collard greens, mustard greens, kale or spinach to bring money.
The Southern custom of eating greens can be found in other cultures as well, although the cabbage can take many forms, such as sauerkraut or even kimchee .
In the Philippines, it is important to have food on the table at midnight in order to insure an abundance of food in the upcoming year.
Boiled Cod is a New Year's Eve must in Denmark.
Olie Bollen a donut-like fritter is popular in Holland for New Year.
Black-eyed peas, fish, apples, and beets are eaten for luck at the Jewish New Year's celebration (not celebrated on Jan 1).

January 8th, 2006

The LCITW (Little Cabin in the Woods) is really starting to take shape. Bob and his lovely wife Pam worked most of the day yesterday pouring concrete into a retaining wall that is going to keep our driveway from slipping off Mt. Sherman. Bob's comment was that there wasn't enough Advil made to fix the pain he was feeling after having spent the day mixing cement and lifting buckets of cement up over his head to be poured into the retaining wall. Some of the neighbors showed up to see what was going on and joined in to help. You can always depend on the friendliness of Ozarkers.

We couldn't help out on Saturday because of other commitments so I was glad when Bob needed help today in finishing the job. You wouldn't believe how windy it was. It was my job to stand on top of the wall and pour the concrete down into the blocks. Several times I had to grab onto the cabin just to keep from getting blown off the wall. I'm sure it was a humorous site with me hugging onto the corner of the cabin for dear life.

We had finished pouring the concrete and were cleaning up when around the bend we spotting one of our friends coming down the road. We were glad to have the company but of course we had to give Shub (a long time coach in the Springfield area) a hard time time for showing up just as we were finishing. I think she probably waited up around the corner of the road until she saw we were about done. After a good deal of ribbing we proudly showed her around the cabin site and told her of our dreams for this little corner of God's country. Below is a photo of the cabin in its current state of construction.

The deck off the main floor will be 26 feet in the air. I just hope we don't have anyone who sleepwalks.

January 28, 2006

Hoping to beat out the rain we ran over to Boxley Valley Mill Pond to see if the resident swans were still making the Old Mill Pond their home. What a beautiful pair of swans. These two have seemed to take up permanent residence in the Boxley Valley and will probably stay if the pond does not freeze over. We were pleased to find them still here and as beautiful as ever. Even though the blowing wind did not lend itself to the usual reflection shots I did get this one photo that my beautiful wife choose as her favorite.

After a peaceful time of watching the swans a gentle rain started to fall so we piled into the Honda and headed to the cabin site. We were alerted that the trusses were to be set this week and were anxious to see the progress. We really needed this time to unwind as our jobs have just about taken every waking moment of our lives over the past two weeks. We have counted 5 mornings that we were up at 2 or 3 a.m., unable to go back to sleep with the thoughts of several projects on our minds.

The woods seemed to be sighing a great expressing of joy as the rain continued to fall on our trip to the cabin site. We have really needed the rain is an understatement, evidenced by the fact that some of the lowest water flows ever recorded have occurred this winter on the Buffalo.

Pulling up to the cabin we were treated to new trusses that have further defined the cabin's structure.

You can see some of the raindrops on the top of the photo as I was a a wimp and took this one from inside the Honda. We just sat in the SUV and looked in awe at the cabin that was now taking on more of it's final form.

After a few minutes of sitting in the vehicle we just couldn't stand not seeing the insides so we put on our gore tex and ventured out into the rain to get a better look. We had a great time walking around and in the cabin viewing the excellent craftsman ship of our builder-Richard Hostetler. It wasn't long until we were soaked but our hearts were warmed by the thoughts of future warm fireplaces, friends and family.

Back to Bluff Spring.