Pawpaw Holler Home

Are you or your ancestors from the Smoky Mountains area?

Check out this neat website that lists the genealogy of over 100,000 Smoky Mountain Tennessee families:

Smoky Mountain Ancestral Quest

(All you in-laws of mine need to visit this site, I got a little lost on it this morning and found out some interesting tidbits that I didn’t know before!)

Thanks go out to Mr. Doug on Mt LeConte for the link.

Blessings,

Denese

Tags: genealogy, Great Smoky Mountains, history

Green things are popping out all over the holler -what a difference from last week!

Toothwort

Stonecrop

Daffodils

Yellow bush (Forsythia)

Parsley

It’s enough to give a body spring fever!

Blessings,

Denese

Tags: nature-photos, wildflowers, winter

Our Jeep didn’t want to start yesterday morning –too cold (it’s a wonder it didn’t happen earlier in the month).

Lacy came back in the house and asked me if I had any aspirin -“I’ve got a sick battery”.

Aspirin???

He took 3 aspirin, cut them in half and put one half in each cell of the battery.

30 minutes later the Jeep started right up! Apparently, the aspirin reacts with the battery acid and warms it up.

What about that!

Does it work every time?

“I ain’t sayin’ it will and I ain’t sayin’ it won’t  -but it’s worked every time for me.”

So the next time your car won’t start because the battery is cold, try some aspirin.

Blessings,

Denese

Tags: aspirin, car-care, winter

We get our water from a spring and both our 500 gallon and 1000 gallon tanks have been frozen since the night of January 3rd.

Praise God, they’ve thawed out!

No more toting and heating!

Hope the weather is warming where you are.

Blessings,

Denese

Tags: water, winter

I lost my little mind for a while yesterday. :O

I promised Abby and Daniel that I would walk up to our little waterfall before the snow melted.

It’s an icefall right now.

Since we were already halfway there, we decided to go on up to the Foothills Parkway (the cold air must have went to my brain).

Are we there yet?

We made it! Of course, my little mountain boy was first to the top…Daniel, “Momma! I found human tracks and they’re not mine! And vehicle tracks!”.

Walking toward Wears Valley…Cove Mountain.

Back up the other direction…we thought that this is Clingmans Dome, but after checking our maps we believe it might be Thunderhead Mountain (if anyone knows for sure, please let me know).

Panoramic view of the Smoky Mountains, looking towards North Carolina.

Daniel, “I should’ve brought my sled!”

Another view looking towards Wears Valley.

Back down the holler towards home…can someone come pick me up?

Blessings,

Denese

Tags: Foothills Parkway, Great Smoky Mountains, hiking, snow, winter

On having to tote water into the house all week:

“All this totin’ water makes me feel like I’m back in the Pigpen Holler days…and them girls sure could use the water!”

(5 sisters)

Tags: The Ol' Hermit

Some ice formations we found in the holler last week…

“Ice ribbons”

These form from plant stems and dead wood.

“Needle Ice”

Needle ice emerges from dirt.

“Frost flowers” form when the water in the ground –or plant stem or dead wood- is above freezing and the air temperature is below freezing. The best time to see them is after a heavy, soaking rain followed by a freeze.

If you live in a dry climate, you may not ever see these –but maybe you can create your own…during freezing temperatures, place outside: a pot of wet soil or a piece of dead wood that has been soaked in water.

To learn more about frost flowers:

Ice Ribbons, Ice Flowers, Frost Flowers or whatever they might be called –Web page by Dr. James R. Carter, Professor Emeritus, Geography-Geology Department, Illinois State University

Blessings,

Denese

Tags: frost-flowers, ice, nature, nature-photos, science, weather

The Smoky Mountains are white!

Snow is falling in the Knoxville area, higher amounts in Smoky Mountains

Rain turning to snow in some western NC areas; higher elevations under winter storm warning

No word on road closings, yet.

Great Smoky Mountains Temporary Road Closures

For updated road and weather information call (865) 436-1200.

According to the radar, the snow is moving out –but we may get some more the first of the week!

Smoky Mountains Radar

National Radar

Smoky Mountains Weather Forecast

We ended up with 3 inches…

Our view from the porch

Hazelnut tree blooms

A coooold marigold

Last of the blackberry (oops) maple leaves

Brrrr –it’s cold!

At least my flowers know what month it is now!

Blessings and stay warm,

Denese

Tags: Great Smoky Mountains, snow, travel info, weather

Fresh Homemade Sausage

1 pig or hog*

Coooold weather

Legg’s Old Plantation Pork Sausage Seasoning #10 -8 oz. bag seasons 25 lbs. of meat, price is about $2.50 per package (or your own sausage recipe)

Butcher the pig

Cut your meat up, add extra fat (anywhere from 5 to 8 parts meat/1 part fat )*

Grind the meat and fat together

Add seasoning –add extra red pepper if you like it hot/more sage if you like it sagier

Mix, mix, mix and mix some more

Fry a test piece

Adjust fat and seasoning if necessary

Eat –yum!

Freeze or can.

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Canned Sausage

Fry sausage in balls

Pack in hot pint jars

Pour grease over sausage (divide evenly between each jar –should be about an inch of grease in each)

Put lids on the jars and turn upside down

Let cool completely and store in cool place

*Note: A hog is just a BIG pig!

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Blessings,

Denese

*Update: I should have noted -If you don’t cut the fat off your meat, you shouldn’t have to add any extra fat.

Tags: canning, recipes, sausage

Happy Thanksgiving from the Pawpaw Holler, hope everyone has a blessed day.

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.  Philippians 4:6

Blessings,

Denese

Tags: Thanksgiving