We met Tom and Tena Ellis at Tena's brother's home in a pretty isolated valley just across the Virginia border in West Virginia. Her brother is David and Tom's brother and sister-in-law, Fred and Clara, were visiting, too. It was fun getting to know them and, like when we were at the Russell's, putting names to faces and the stories we've heard through the years. Stories like the time Tom's folks were keeping Clara's cat, Charlie, while they were on vacation and they thought they had lost the cat when all the time it was stuck in a bureau. Stories about Tom and Fred's escapades growing up and the bush out back that grew the switches that their mom used. Tena hasn't shared any wild stories about David, but she and Tom have often talked about how beautiful it is here and how much they enjoy coming here. David is very generous in sharing his lovely log home with family as well as strangers like us!
Tena, Clara and I took a drive to visit a pottery shop that they had been to several times before. The GPS took us through several back roads and finally told us "You have reached your destination" in the middle of no where. Luckily we had cell service and were able to call. The potter's husband was able to figure out where we were and give us directions to back track to their place!
We passed several barns with barn quilts along our journey. I got pictures of a few of them.
Here is some information about barn quilts, if you aren't familiar with them:
Barn quilts are painted quilt squares-usually fashioned on boards and then mounted on a barn or other building. While cloth quilts are usually made up of a series of squares of the same pattern placed together, a barn quilt is almost always a single square.
The pattern for a particular barn quilt may be chosen for myriad reasons. Often the barn quilt is a replica of a painted quilt that resides on the property or honors a loved one. A pattern may be selected because of its name; Corn and Beans is popular among farmers. Sometimes, the barn quilt is simply one whose pattern is appealing to either its creators or its owners.
This is Clara and the potter, Marcia Springston-Dillon. Marcia has been blind since birth and creating handthrown pottery since 1975. She says, "My hands remember how the pots grew, and my heart is gratified." She's using a braille printer in this picture.
We came across a covered bridge as we headed back. It was interesting as it's a beautifully constructed bridge, but it leads to no where. There were signs inside it talking about the different tribes of native Americans that were in the area many years past.
This is the view from David's place this frosty morning. The picture doesn't begin to do it justice!
Fred
Tena, Clara, David, & Tom
Fred
Tom, Tena, David & I took a little hike up the Allegheny Trail to the Hanging Rock Raptor Lookout Tower
This location was once a fire tower. It's balanced on a rock outcropping and is now used for observing and counting raptors seen in the area. They weren't very active while we were there, but we did see one immature bald eagle as well as a woodpecker and some turkey vultures. It was a beautiful hike and the weather was perfect, cool and no wind!
See those two brownish spots in about the center of the pic below? These are on David's property. His house is just below the ridge. He's had these spots clear cut to create animal habitat to encourage a wider variety of animals in the area.
And speaking of animals, we saw another bear this evening. This one ran across the road directly in front of us just a couple driveways down from David's. He/she was big, black and beautiful. However, it didn't stick around long enough for us to get a picture.
This was an really interesting growth on one of the trees close to the trail. We couldn't decide if it looked like something from Beowulf (Tom), Harry Potter (Tena), Star Wars (Bonnie) or a can opener (David).
Becca thinks the tree growth looks like an elephant
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