I couldn't resist starting off with one of our new Sawyerville signs! This is the one to the west, just beyond County Road 15 which you see in the background (or, as it always will be to me, the Lock 6 Road, although the lock and dam have been gone since the 1950s). There's a matching sign to the east, not far from the entrance to what used to be the Umbria Plantation. The signs are the brainchild of and were funded by one of my newly-discovered cousins of whom I am deeply proud. They've been up a couple of weeks now, but only this past week did I get around to taking pictures.
This week I have spent a lot of time down at the May Farm. My cousin and his wife were spending the week in Jackson Hole and invited my sister and 2 of our cousins from Huntsville and their 10-year-old grandson to stay at the farm in their absence. In addition to providing an on-going presence (in part because we have had several break-ins in the area lately), the invited guests were asked to water the garden and put out poison on new fire ant mounds when they appeared. The kid loved doing that, for it meant that his grandfather would be driving him about the farm on the golf cart each day. I believe the final count of fire ant mounds so treated topped 70.
The first Sunday we dined indoors because it was terribly hot and muggy, but most lunches and dinners (and I assume breakfast too, but I was never down for that) took place out here on the screened-in porch. Here we are set up for Thursday evening dinner.
Oddly enough, the porch is a new addition to the house (which had been built by the present inhabitant's father in the late 1940s). Here we are looking south along the side of the porch that faces west.
That contraption in the far right corner emits heat when needed. Not this past week! But we gave the 3 ceiling fans a workout.
That contraption in the far right corner emits heat when needed. Not this past week! But we gave the 3 ceiling fans a workout.
Here we are looking west toward the tree line at the edge of the property. That's a wonderful old oak in the center. The fence you see encloses the dog yard: the 2 schnauzers have plenty of room to run about, and if necessary they can run under the porch in case of rain. They can also come in and out the south door to the porch. (They spent the week elsewhere.)
Only some 60 acres remain in May hands. I hope it will continue to so remain, for my father was born and raised on this property. In a way it is part of my home.
Only some 60 acres remain in May hands. I hope it will continue to so remain, for my father was born and raised on this property. In a way it is part of my home.
The northwest corner of the porch. Eventually, no doubt, that fallen pine tree will be removed, but my cousin and his wife have had too much to deal with this past year to worry about a fallen tree.
We Southerners do like our screened-in porches, and this is one of the most comfortable ones I know. It is especially pleasant upon an evening when my cousin has me down and opens up one of his fine Irish whiskies.
The visitors did dine out a couple of times, once at Roebuck Landing (I missed that one: I was mowing and otherwise engaged, but my sister and I did have lunch there Saturday after the cousins had left) and once at Pie Lab. But mostly they just stayed on the farm.
On Thursday afternoon my sister and one of our cousins came out to Sawyerville to take some photographs. Monkey see, monkey do, so I grabbed my camera and joined them. I'm standing in front of Martin's Store looking west on Highway 14. Just about there the road disappears around the curve is where one would turn off to go to the May Farm. The sign? Tuesday June 3 is primary election day, and this sign touts the virtues of our present county sheriff's only challenger in the election. (I'm sticking with the incumbent: he has been the best sheriff I can recall. What with both candidates being black, we don't have the usual black-vs.-white issues that plague so many of our local elections.)
Martin's Store is still carrying its load of Virginia creeper. I think it is even more lush than in the last shots I posted.
Here's an exterior view of the old heavy metal sliding door at the rear of Martin's Store that used to close off the old wooden storeroom to he rear from the newer brick store. I'm a bit surprised that nobody has stolen this door in the dead of night to sell as scrap metal.
That old wooden store used to be Mr. M. T. Martin's main store, facing the main road at the time and the railroad and depot just beyond the road. The brick store was built to face the new road to the south.
That old wooden store used to be Mr. M. T. Martin's main store, facing the main road at the time and the railroad and depot just beyond the road. The brick store was built to face the new road to the south.
And speaking of railroads, here's a shot of the north bank of the old railroad. The rails and crossties themselves are long gone, but the scar remains. Further north is the last remaining building on Mr. J. R. Martin's property. (J. R. and M. T. were brothers, and yes, they are some sort of kin to me, but the Martins are so complicated that I have pretty much given up figuring out how.)
J. R. and Cousin Susie's house was just to the east of this opening. Just to the west was the Callahan house, to whom I am kin via the Hollis line that married into the Callahan line.
J. R. and Cousin Susie's house was just to the east of this opening. Just to the west was the Callahan house, to whom I am kin via the Hollis line that married into the Callahan line.
Mr. M T.'s and Miss Bill's house is, I believe, not occupied now. It was across the railroad from the Callahan house. Although M. T. and J. R. were brothers, more than a railroad separated them: if they even spoke during my lifetime I am not aware of it.
I love this ancient pecan, and that's why I featured it instead of the house.
I love this ancient pecan, and that's why I featured it instead of the house.
I'm standing in front of Mr. M. T.'s house looking east toward downtown Sawyerville on what used to be the main road through Sawyerville. The old railroad was just to the left (north) of this road. Yes, that is a cat getting ready to cross the road. The old cotton gin and adjacent sawmill would have been down the road behind where I am standing and across the railroad. The Sawyerville boys loved to play down there.
Beside the Martin house and just to the west was the two-story house belonging to Aunt Itty and Uncle Jud May. They had both been married previously and had lost a spouse, and when they married each had 4 children. Presumably they thought 8 was enough and had none together. (I'm kin to both sets, incidentally, but the Jud May line was closer kin.) The house, which stood back behind these old pecan trees, burned in the fall of 1961. It was no longer owned by kinfolks then.
This area has now become the meeting place for some of the younger males of Sawyerville. That's why the picnic table.
This area has now become the meeting place for some of the younger males of Sawyerville. That's why the picnic table.
Perhaps this shed to the left of the above is a clubhouse of sorts. I assume the billy goat is a kind of mascot. Sometimes he gets loose and wanders out to downtown Sawyerville. He seems friendly enough, but he is large enough and has horns imposing enough to give one pause.
We're back in front of Martin's Store looking slightly to the southeast to my house and yard and the trees down in the woods. I've still got some blooms on the magnolia tree which you may be able to make out if you enlarge the photo with a click.
Down the hill from the east of the house the Black-Eyed Susans are just starting to bloom. I've just now looked out the window to check, and even more are blooming. It will not surprise you to know that they are relatives of the sunflower. I think those tall green plants to the left are goldenrod, which will bloom in the late summer and early fall. I'm hoping during this year to get even more of the later-blooming yellow flowers, mostly in the coreopsis family, started in this wildflower patch. I'll have to mark some plants on the side of the road and retrieve some seed.
I think it is a beautiful flower. I really do love wildflowers, and I like to encourage them.
You will note the shoes of the photographer at the bottom of the picture. I would have tried to crop them out, but on my ancient Adobe Photoshop the cropping tool seems to have died.
You will note the shoes of the photographer at the bottom of the picture. I would have tried to crop them out, but on my ancient Adobe Photoshop the cropping tool seems to have died.
More Black-Eyed Susans, just because I like them so much. The honeysuckle on the east fence is no longer in bloom, and one of these days I must tackle those vines!
The day lilies on the west fence by my driveway have just started to bloom as well. My mother had lots, all shades. Each year I have fewer, for I simply don't do anything for them. Just pleased when one elects to bloom. Probably during the week the tiger lilies will be in bloom.
I must say, I do think they are pretty!
Down the fence toward the garage is my stand of four-o'clocks. (It's just possible that they may be crowding out the day lilies! I just thought of that!) Of course these are not in bloom yet, but in a few weeks they will be.
The woods are still lush, and I'm pleased that the grass in my yard is making an effort finally. Maybe it will recover from past droughts and the cold winter after all.
This is the tallest of my tulip poplars down in the woods. I love the yellow-green blooms, but I rarely get to see them now since I had to have the big one in the yard to the east of my house taken down.
The afternoon was overcast, and later in the afternoon the clouds over Sawyerville became most dramatic.
I've always loved a sky with blues and whites and grays all mixed up together.
I've always loved a sky with blues and whites and grays all mixed up together.
The weeklong party is over now, and sister and cousins have returned to their respective homes. Me? Well, my intention is to do more yard work (mowing, pulling vines, the like) and eat a little less and lose some of the 4 pounds I put on this week. It's all because of that Cuban meal last Monday night coupled with the great coconut cake one of my cousins made down on the farm.
I'll shut up now and leave you with one more shot of sky:
I'll shut up now and leave you with one more shot of sky:
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