15 Years, 15 Blessings

July is a special month for us. So many important dates and lots of friends and family members born in this 7th month of the year. It was July 2009 when we closed on a little slice of country heaven as a family getaway — and we’re still here, more than ever. To commemorate the 15th year, I’ve been thinking about all the memories, friends and experiences that have touched our lives here in sweet home Alabama. And while that’s a very long list, here are just 15 blessings we’ve received over the years…

1. Our daily view. Looking out our windows every day to the sight of horses. It still takes my breath away. We moved here because of one horse, Merlin, who deserved a peaceful place to retire, and that started our journey. Many horses have come along since, but none will ever replace him.

2. New Friends, Now Old Friends. We started out not knowing one soul in this neck of the woods. The first friend was our hay man, Buster, and the little network grew from there. Neighbors, farmers, teachers, policemen/women, government folks, retired military, horse people, cow people, chicken people, the list goes on and on. Life here is filled with wonderful people.

3. ‘Country.’ Our kids were raised in a big city. But out here they get to be a little bit country. Slower pace, deep breaths, deeper conversations, lots of ways to play, so many animals and so much more. “This is a healing place,” our friend Shelly once said. And we couldn’t agree more.

4. The Power of a Small Town. Living here, you get to see how great a small town can truly be. We still have parades twice a year. American flags fly high and strong. It’s not unusual to find fresh eggs or tomatoes in your mailbox. And if you need help, friends show up at your door…often with chainsaws. 😉 When the tornadoes hit hard in 2019, this town rallied to help everyone affected and rebuild, and today the town stands stronger than ever.

5. Shinrin-Yoku. (translation: forest bathing). Mike may sometimes curse all the trees around us (after all, he’s usually the one cleaning up fallen limbs, cutting up downed trees and fixing fences obliterated after winds and storms), but I wouldn’t trade them for anything. Oak, pine, pecan, magnolia, hickory, black maple, red cedar, chestnut, beech, birch and many others we can’t even name. Living among thousands of trees is most certainly a blessing, not a curse.

6. The Tallaseehatchee. My brothers and sisters and I grew up on Noses Creek in Marietta, Ga., and we spent our days playing in and all around it. Snakes, fish, salamanders, water spiders, crawdads…these were some of nature’s “toys.” When we first walked the Alabama property, I had grave doubts. Everything was sad, abandoned, neglected, overgrown. The house was a serious mess. My eyes welled up with tears. But Mike had a vision. And by the time we walked down to see the glorious Tallaseehatchee Creek bordering the land’s back side, it was over. We were home.

7. Dogs Run Wild. In Atlanta, our house sat on .22 (that’s point-two-two) acres with a little fenced-in back yard. Our dogs never really learned to run. They were walkers. And walking on leashes on sidewalks just isn’t the same as blasting out wide open across a pasture chasing turkeys and deer. Here our dogs live outside most days. They come in tired and sometimes wet. They eat well. And sleep hard…much like their humans. 🙂

photo by bart norman

8. Lessons from equine babies. Raising and training two young horses have taught us a lot. And humbled us. “Fast is slow and slow is fast,” a maxim a cowboy in Montana once shared with me. And whether it’s moving cows or working with horses, the meaning is the same. Education, patience, gentleness, firmness…these are the skills needed to train a young horse.

9. The foothills. Being nestled in the foothills of the Appalachians makes one wake up every day in wonder. Our own local storyteller Rick Bragg describes it this way: “My mother and father were born in the most beautiful place on earth, in the foothills of the Appalachians along the Alabama-Georgia line. It was a place where gray mists hid the tops of low, deep-green mountains….” – All Over but the Shoutin’

10. The hills are alive. Music has come to play such a meaningful role in our lives. Campfires with singing, the wonderful old Dugger Mountain Music Hall, Riley Green and more. Our friend Lisa from Chicago, now of Wisconsin, likes to say…”there’s something in the water down there.” She’s talking about music and the rich tradition of musicians hailing from this state. Hank Williams, Nat ‘King’ Cole, Tammy Wynette, Lionel Richie, Chuck Leavell, Jimmy Buffett, Jason Isbell, Jamey Johnson, Brittany Howard, Waxahatchee, Riley Green, and of course the original country super group, Alabama. If you ever find yourself near Fort Payne, be sure to visit the Alabama Music Hall of Fame.

11. Honkey Hawg. You’d have to see it to believe it. Hundreds of people gathering in the woods for 3 days of camping, music, food, fun & fellowship. Started 40 years ago as a celebration of life for someone dealing with cancer, it moved from its original site near Boaz, Ala., to a larger tract of woods near our farm. It’s one of the funnest weekends of the year. (“Honkey Hawg get down!”) Check out our bestest friend/neighbor Megan in her Honkey Hawg bluegrass debut with Foggy Hollow.

12. Chief Ladiga Trail. One of the largest rails-to-trails projects in the U.S., the Ladiga Trail is practically at our back door and provides a nature-rich expanse for bikers, runners, walkers and more. Adam Dasinger, a Talladega National Forest guide, said in a recent article, “…the splendor of the Appalachian Mountains in Alabama continues to draw people in no small part to the Chief Ladiga Rail Trail.”

13. Making hay. We’ve written about this many times but having a hay farm is a beautiful thing. Once a year, the lush green pastures are turned over to make hay that will sustain horse and cattle (and sometimes goats!) for another winter. And we love being part of this process, assisting the smart and dedicated farmers and friends who help us harvest. The task is sweat glorified and we love every minute of it.

14. Humility & gratitude. We moved in as strangers but so many people came to trust and enrich us with their friendship. And we continue to be amazed and grateful for all they’ve offered over the years. Smart, loyal, caring people, including our neighbor Patsy who’s lived and played on this land since she was a girl in the 1930s (that’s her front and center in the b&w photo at the creek). Whether they know it or not, they’ve all taught us many things and helped us adapt to life out here.

15. Partnership. And finally, none of this would have been possible without the one man who took a once little girl’s dream and made it come true. This blog is dedicated to Mike D’Avanzo, my husband and best friend. Thank you for finding this magical place.

photo by bart norman

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Making Biscuits in the Black Belt

Arielle, Adrian & I ventured to Alabama’s Black Belt, a lesser known part of the state that is reinventing itself in food, farming and agriculture. Together we explored some of the area’s history, including an overnight stay at the Moore-Webb-Holmes Plantation (ca. 1819), one of Alabama’s last active plantations, which has been in the same family since the early 1800s.

But the main reason for our trip was to spend a day with Scott Peacock, a James Beard Award-winning chef who stepped away from a high-profile culinary career in Atlanta 10 years ago to rediscover his roots in Alabama and write a new chapter in his life and career. We spent the most incredible day with Scott at Reverie (ca. 1858) in Marion, learning the art of biscuits in the mansion’s sun showered kitchen.

You would think a lesson in biscuits would be a fairly simple process, but layers of complexity reveal themselves throughout the day. “[Biscuit making] is really simple, and simple is really hard,” Scott noted, as he sifted heirloom flour from Anson Mills and showed us how to make homemade baking powder. This was just one of many ‘biscuit-isms’ casually dropped throughout the day and we soaked up every word of kitchen wisdom he had to impart.

To say this trip was special for us would be an understatement. To try and describe Scott in a few words here, well, is not that easy. He is sweet and funny and generous and kind, and so full of love and passion for the home state to which he’s returned. If ‘a biscuit expresses the cook,’ as this Alabama native attests, then all you need to do is spend a day with Chef Peacock in the kitchen and let the biscuits tell the story.

More about The Black Belt Biscuit Experience...

 

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, read “A Southern Thanksgiving with Chef Scott Peacock” from Martha Stewart Living for some culinary inspo.

And if you’re planning a trip to the Black Belt and visit to the Moore-Webb-Holmes Plantation, book a tour through host Cooper Holmes to see and learn more of the region’s rich history. (better yet, stay the night there! 🙂 )

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Fields of Gold

With summer’s end comes the final hay cutting of the year. And in a year of so much noise and strife, local farmers and landowners throughout the South have been blessed by Mother Nature’s quiet gift of constant rains, which nourished the fields and grew the grass. Hay yields everywhere this year are breaking records. On our own little farm, the yield was 125 square bales and (because we had to get the grass up quickly before more rain came) 60+ giant round bales — for a total equivalent of 1,086 square bales! That’s the biggest haul in 11 years here, and it will feed a lot of cows and horses…and probably a few goats.

There’s something remarkably satisfying about feeding one’s animals with the grasses grown on the lands they stand on. The taste is familiar, their bodies eagerly accept the nutrients and roughage, and barns stand full and ready to feed in the cold months when no fresh grass is available.

We are so thankful for the friends who help us bale our hay. It’s never without challenges, that’s for sure, and we all learn new things each and every year. Without their perseverance and support (+ large equipment!) we’d be left with no choice but to bushhog the fields…then all that beautiful grass would just go to waste. And I don’t think we could sleep at night knowing we gave up the chance to keep more animals healthy, happy and fed.

Winter is coming. And we are ready.👊

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Adopted Alabamians

Whenever Sean of the South writes one of his love letters to Alabama, it always gets our attention. And this one — about road-tripping through the state in a pandemic — certainly hit home.

The thing I miss most, however, is road trips. Like the one I’m on now. I almost forgot how to travel. I almost forgot the thrill of looking out the window at the beauty lying between my Floridian Panhandle home and the sunkissed pastures of Alabama.
I almost forgot what it feels like to roll down my window on a clear day, travelling fifty-five. I nearly forgot how freeing it is to be on an old highway among the peanut fields and cotton.
Workaholic Me is gone. And I hope he stays gone. And for the next few days, I am once again an adopted son of a truly great state.
I heart Alabama.
-Sean Dietrich

Like Dietrich, we are also “adopted Alabamians” and we ♥ our family here. It’s been awhile since we took an Alabama road trip…just because (a friend once called that “going loafering”). Thinking we need to hit those back roads again soon!

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Rediscovering Rural Alabama

Returning and Awakening to the Beauty of Rural Alabama…by travel photographer / native Alabamian Scott Baker.

Swann Covered Bridge, photo by Scott Baker

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