Home Sweet

I call my blog Kat's Corner, because it is about my little corner of the world. Our house plays a big role in my life, this particular episode is all about the house. Back in 1983, we lived in a little apartment in Ogden UT. I remember one afternoon we were daydreaming with a "United Farm Catalog" there was a place for sale with an old house that needed work and a couple of acres. It bordered on a National Forest, can you imagine how nice that sounded. There was no way we could afford it at the time and we were getting ready to spend a couple of years moving around with the AF anyway, but it stuck in my head as an ideal. Move the clock forward to 2002. Our couple of years in the AF turned into a career and it was almost time to get out. No more moving every few years.
We must have looked at over a hundred houses, none were quite what we wanted. Then my Sweet one found a house on the Internet. It boarders on Sumter National Forest (no, it wasn't the exact property we looked at all those years ago, this house is much prettier). We hopped into the van and drove up to look at it. The house had been on the market for quite a while and had not been lived in for over a year. The front porch was buckling, the roof was dreadful, and most of the fireplaces were boarded up. The well wasn't even working. We fell in love, good thing too, as this house needed to be Loved!
Between the time we signed the contract and the time we were ready to move in, we went to the bookstore. My Honey was looking at a "Country Living Magazine". He called out, excited, across the store, our house is in here! What! Our house was one of the four houses chosen to appear on their for sale page. (Yes, I still have a copy, two as a matter of fact).
Our house was either built around 1830 by the Reverend James Chiles, according to "Greenwood County A History" by Ann Heard Bowen.

We have replaced the roof, fixed the porch and

repaired the chimneys. As well as a lot of other things. There is always something that needs to be done. It is a big house and it is full of love.
The first photo is of course the house from the front, next "tea on the balcony". Third is a view of the side of the house and fourth is a view from the side. Five is a photo of our bees. see the piece that isn't painted? That is the entrance to their home. If you look close to that you can see some of the bees going in and out.
Six is the summer kitchen and smoke house. Seven is the view from my kitchen window. Eight is part of the back yard. Nine is one of the newest members of the family, this lion is part of a pair that recently moved

onto the front porch. Ten is a fresh batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies just waiting to be cut and enjoyed. They were very good. I am afraid they are gone now. Eleven, last but not least is an old canning jar that appears to have something in it. Could be almost anything. It isn't a firefly, they are not that bright in the daylight. (I might have had a little help from photoshop to put it in their.)

Now it is time to motivate. My day is rapidly escaping. See you soon.

Bele Chere 2009

Have you ever been to Bele Chere? It is a street festival, held every July in Asheville NC. It is a three day celebration of art, artists, music and one of my favorite cities. It is also pure Joy!
Artists and art are everywhere. There are what seems like miles of booths set up alongside the road. In some cases, like in my first three photos, the artist is the art. These living statues were quite wonderful. They would hold various poses, as still as you could wish, until someone spoke to them, or dropped change in their hat. When activated, they would bow gracefully then mime different things. Great fun. Especially since I suspect they felt as if they were

melting. It was quite warm.

We were able to go for all three days a couple of years ago, even that did not seem like it was long enough. This year, we were limited to just one day.

Did I mention the food? Several local businesses were offering tastes of their wares. One of my favorites was

French Broad Chocolates. No it is not run by a lady from France, it is named after a local river. Lovely Fudge. We shared a Felafel from "The Jerusalem Garden Cafe" and Dinner was a vegetarian combo from a street vendor. (Oh my goodness, it was wonderful) Unfortunately I did not write the name of

the vegetarian vendor down. I really don't think
you can go wrong with anything on offer.
The fourth is an example of the art that is all over Asheville on a daily basis. The giant Iron is sitting out on a corner, just waiting to inspire despair. (My sister Paula thinks it is funny that after all those years in the military and ironing uniforms, I chose another career that requires uniforms, and I still feel like I have to iron them). Do you even own an Iron? My iron is not quite this old, but my ironing board is a wooden one that was made many years ago for my Mother in Law. The neat thing is she was about my height (not tall) so it is just right for me.

The odd looking frame contraption is a mister. A great way to cool off. Don't forget to put the camera away first.

A lot of the booths were selling different types of art. One of the many that I particularly liked was, Starships.com I guess the anniversary of the moon landings has me thinking about space ships.

Another good booth was provided by "Malaprop's Bookstore and Cafe". Books, nice atmosphere and coffee. Great combo.

One of the many things I love about Asheville is the blending of the new and the old. They have a lot of

wonderful architecture.

Some of the art is participatory. They have some giant canvas and paints ready for you to add to a mural and we even saw a walking puppet show. Cute.

There are stages set up in several locations. Far enough apart that they don't compete with each other and plenty of street musicians. Our dinner was accompanied by a couple of enterprising young ladies tap dancing.

Last but not least, a lovely bit of sunshine. This fine specimen was looking down on me from the yard next door to where we parked the car.

Have I wet your appetite? Bele Chere 2010 is less than 12 months away. Next years website is not up yet, but if you want a little more of a taste, try this years at MountainX.com
Kat

Hero Worship

Can you hear me now? Jimmy liked technology and whenever he called me on his cell phone, he started the conversation with that phrase. Jimmy was my big brother and my hero. His name was James Leroy Riggs.
I remember one summer day when I was little. I got up early and as soon as I finished breakfast, I ran to the front porch to sit and wait for him. Jimmy and his family were driving up from Texas for a visit and they were due to arrive that day. Remember this was in the days before cell phones and calling cards. We had no idea what time he would arrive.
Every time a car came into view, I would stand up and run to the curb. The excitement was almost unbearable. I just new each car was his.
After what seemed like hours, and several hundred cars that did not turn in at our driveway, I had an
idea. I ran into the house to ask Mom what color his car was. Mom didn't know and Dad couldn't remember. (Dad thought the whole thing was quite funny) Back out to the porch..... After several hundred more cars, or at least that is how it seemed to an excited little kid, I had another bright idea. I ran back in to the house and asked Dad what color Texas license plates were. Don't ask me how he knew, or why I was so certain that he would, but he did. Unfortunately, it did not help me a bit. Texas plates back then were black and white, same as Utah. (Do you remember when License plates were
just two colors, no pictures or .com address?) Back out to the porch and jumping up for several more cars. It is a good thing kids seem to have an unending supply of energy.
I seriously doubt if that stretch of Monroe saw even one hundred cars on any given day back then. Let us just say that when you are little and anxious for something, numbers get bigger and time stretches out. I don't know what time they finally arrived, but I was waiting. He must have been hot and tired but when that car door opened, he acted like he was as happy to see me, as I was to see him.

Jimmy was my biggest brother and I had a bad case of hero worship where he was concerned (still do). He was not, however my only brother. Pete spent a lot more time playing with me. Pete is only seven years older than me, Jimmy was twenty. Pete was always patient with me and he taught me a lot. I have a lot of great memories of Pete teaching me to play chess, or Parcheesi, or cards. Jimmy's advantage was that he was seldom there. I did not understand all that back then, I do now. I love Pete very much and when it comes right down to it, Pete

probably had more influence in who I turned out to

be. Pete is a different kind of hero, he has always been very human. Jimmy was larger than life
and this post is for him.
Jimmy was my Father's child from a previous marriage. Back then it was unheard of for a Father to get custody. Initially Jimmy went with his Mother. According to him, she brought them up to believe that my Father was a horrible person. When, as a teenager Jimmy kept getting into trouble. Her way of handling it was to give him back to my Dad. Jimmy and Dad were on their own for awhile. I don't know the exact dates, but they spent
part of the late 1950's traveling from town to town looking for work.

They both had a rather warped sense of humor and charming smiles. Dad was 5 ft 3 or so with wavy blond hair. Jimmy as a younger adult was 6 ft 1 with coal black hair, the smile however was unmistakably the same. Dad always said he was so much taller from having to have his rear end kicked regularly.
Jimmy told me the story once of a traveling show that stopped in one of the towns where they were working. The show had a gorilla that had been trained to box. Every night the Gorilla's owner would put him in a ring and offer to pay $100. to anyone who could stay in the ring with it for three rounds or knock it out. (Remember, these were different times, ) Dad took Jimmy to watch the first night. There were several attempts. Each costing the would be boxer $25. None of the men managed to last even the first round.

When Dad insisted on going back to watch the next night, Jimmy started to worry. When Jimmy told me this story, it was several years after our Father had died. Jimmy admitted that he wasn't sure if he was more worried about Dad, or the $25. he just knew it was a bad idea. Sure enough, after several other men lost their money, Dad climbed into the ring. This was nuts! Not quite as nuts as it sounded. Dad was an experienced boxer, he boxed for the army, (but that is yet another story). He was also a very smart man. Dad put on the gloves. Jimmy said he couldn't stand to watch, but he couldn't look away. The bell rang. Dad put his hands together and bowed low, the gorilla bowed low too. On the way back up, Dad's fist connected with the gorilla's jaw and it was out cold. Dad won the $100. He explained later that the gorilla was evidently trained to mimic it's opponent. If the person in the ring threw a right hook, the gorilla ducked, then threw a right hook. With the advantage of a much longer reach and greater strenght, no one could connect with it. Once Dad figured that out, "all he had to do" was figure out how to get the chin within reach for the first blow. He knew he would not get a second.

Eventually Dad and Jimmy returned to Ogden and they rented an apartment from a lady named Ruth. She was a friend of friends and as some of you know, she was my Mom. Dad married her in 1959, and they had two more girls.

Jimmy joined the army at 17 and he went off to Vietnam. My earliest memories of that war are of the TV news. I remember watching and knowing that my big brother was over there. I wondered if I would see him, but I was not old enough to understand that he was in danger. He was wounded in action. He said the bullet ricocheted off a rock and hit him in the rear. Dad told me that Jimmy was carrying someone else out of a burning helicopter when he was shot. According to Dad, Jimmy didn't even drop the guy. He just kept going till it was safe to stop. Jimmy had what was left of that bullet on a key chain he carried for years. Jimmy got out after two tours in the Army. He moved to Texas and worked as a Police Officer. He went back in the Army Reserves. He retired as a Master Sargent (MSgt) in the Army that is an E8.

When I joined the Air Force, Jimmy was one of the few who thought it was a good idea. He knew I could do it and he told me so. Whenever we were both in the same place, there were a lot of good natured jokes about Army tough vs Air Force smart. Most important. There is something about being in the military, war time or peace time, that sets you apart from everyone else. Jimmy got it. He might not have understood a lot of things about me, but he knew who MSgt Rawson was, and he was proud of her. The last few years of his life, were my last few years in the military. When I got promoted to MSgt (Air Force E7), he was very proud. He drove from Texas for the promotion ceremony. There is a tradition that if your stripes are "tacked on" well enough by someone you respect, they won't ever come off. Tacking on usually involves a good slug and sometimes bruises. Jimmy was on one side, my commander at the time, Major Fredricks, was on the other. I did get bruises, it was an honor. I retired in those stripes three years later. Jimmy didn't make it to my retirement. He died the year before from Pancreatic Cancer. A painful, awful way to die. There may be some link to the Agent Orange he was exposed to in Vietnam.

The first photo is him in uniform as a young man. I have another that looks just like Elvis from the same time frame. The second is Jimmy with our sister Paula. The next few are just him and the last is the scrapbook page from my pinning ceremony.

Summer goodies

Summer time! My school schedule is pretty hectic right now, but my sweet Hubby makes sure I take time to enjoy life too. I had a birthday this month, (I won't tell you how many this is). This is part of my birthday pie.
Birthday pie? Yup! Pumpkin pie is my favorite desert. My sweet Hubby makes the best pie, so every year for my birthday, he makes me a pie. He usually makes an individual one as well as the regular size. It was good!

This elk is from our last visit to the Smokey Mountains. Isn't he magnificent. I wish there was some way I could show you the size of this guy, he is huge. He was wary, and kept an eye out, but he knew he was bigger than me.

A summer visitor on the back steps. I can't believe how close he let me get. He is a salamander. They are supposed to be lucky. I like them because they eat bugs.

Charleston beauty! One of my favorite summer goodies is a trip to Charleston. This window box is just one of many lovely examples.

This little mini garden is around the base of a fountain in front of Charleston Place Hotel. No we don't stay there, but we do pop in for the shops on the ground level. They have a Godiva Chocolate shop among others.

Charleston has impressive old and new ironwork. There are a few artists still producing and repairing it. Lovely.

From a peak into a garden.

A new shop we found. "V. Smith Gallery" This is the owner, Vicki Smith, showing off crystal to my Sweet Heart. She has quite a selection of crystal at very reasonable prices, as well as original paintings and jewelry.

She is knowledgeable and enthusiastic about everything she sells.

Charleston is one of those cities where you really have to look up. The sky line is full of great architectural details. The next three photos are just a few examples. Do be careful though, I frequently stub my toes. The side walk is not always even.

See what I mean?

The weather cooperated perfectly. This rain storm cut loose less than five minutes after we got back in the car.

What sort of goodies are you enjoying this summer?

Kat

A taste of things to come.

Still crazy busy but the camera never rests. Here are a few to keep your intrest, more soon to come.

short note

Hey folks, I haven't forgotten you. Tons of school work at the moment. I will get a post up in the next few days.
Kat