Steps

Concrete steps at Super 8 in Sardis, MS.

I just hate it when we get an upper story room and there's no elevator. Of course, it wouldn't be quite so bad if we didn't try taking half of everything we own on the road with us.

Steps

Chevron and McDonald's

Super 8 in Sardis, MS.

Chevron and McDonald's locations in beautiful downtown Sardis, MS.

Chevron and McDonald's

Cell Tower

Cell tower in Sardis, MS.

With this tower in our backyard, I'll bet we could get a cell phone signal, but I really wouldn't want this tower in our backyard.

Cell Tower

Super 8

Super 8 motel in Sardis, MS.

Home is wherever your Priceline bid is accepted.

Super 8

Early Morning Crew Marking Off Booth Spaces

Double Decker Art Festival (Oxford, MS): Early morning crew marking off booth spaces.

Early Morning Crew Marking Off Booth Spaces

Bookstore

Bookstore on the square in Oxford, MS.

Bookstore

Lafayette County Courthouse

Lafayette County Courthouse (Oxford, MS)

I was wandering around in the early morning, taking photos while waiting for the square to open for booth set up at Double Decker Arts Festival.

Lafayette County Courthouse

Tow Trucks

Before we can start setting up for the show, cars left parked on the Oxford town square must be towed away.  Numerous signs warn drivers not to leave their vehicles overnight, but there are always many cars that must be removed.   Tow trucks circle the square like vultures.  The several bars on or near the square just might contribute to the number of folks who do not see, heed and/or remember to remove their cars.

Double Decker Arts Festival 
Oxford, MS

Tow Trucks

Jo and Shelving

Jo is checking out an idea for modifying her shelving layout.

Jo and Shelving

Waiting In Line

Waiting in line before we can set up at Double Decker Arts Festival in Oxford, MS. Artists are allowed onto the courthouse square at 7:30 AM or so, but you if you want to park and unload anywhere near your booth location, you have to get in line by six o'clock so you'll be one of the first vehicles allowed onto the square.  We got in line a little before six o'clock and were still about twenty vehicles back from the front of the line.  Our van is a couple of vehicles behind that yellow box truck.

Waiting In Line

Log Loading Truck

Logger loaded his transport truck and took the logs to the mill.  The logging "crew" doing some selective logging on our neighbors property up by the gate is a one-man operation.

Saw Logs

Saw logs ready to be loaded and taken to the sawmill.

Saw Logs

Log Skidder

Our neighbor, Jerry Joe, has a one-man logging crew doing some selective cutting on his property up by the gate. The logger also cut down a few dead trees that were leaning toward our power lines. I was glad to see those trees brought down by someone who knew what he was doing.

Log Skidder

Bucket in the Garden

At eleven-years-old, Bucket helps out in the garden as much as she ever did.

Bucket in the Garden

Calf

"Sorry, but I'm just checking our mail and not feeding cows."

(Before finishing checking our mail, I had about a dozen calves expecting to be fed.)

Calf

Bear Creek Cemetery Pavilion Sign

I drive by this sign every time I make a trip into town. I've never noticed that the off-center lettering seems to indicate a word has been covered. I wonder what that word was?

Bear Creek Cemetery Pavilion Sign

Bear Creek Cemetery Pavilion

The Bear Creek Cemetery Pavilion building was our polling place. Many cemeteries in these parts have buildings associated with them. They often serve as an unofficial community center for people living in the area. They are also used on Decoration Day (Memorial Day), an all-day session (including a pot luck meal) when folks with loved ones buried in the cemetery gather for its annual cleaning and sprucing up.

There was an old wooden building on this site, but it burned down several years ago. This metal replacement serves the purpose, but doesn't have the same charm.

Bear Creek Cemetery Pavilion

Vote Here

And vote we did -- around eleven o'clock. We were voters number thirteen and fourteen at our polling place. We did not have to wait in line.

Vote Here

Changing Kiln Elements

Jo changed the elements in her kiln.  She did the majority of the job herself, but needed my help crimping the wires from the controller onto the elements.  That job requires brute force, a strong grip to get the metal sleeve connectors crimped securely.

Kiln sitting in messy kiln room.  Ready to have controller wires connected to new elements.

There are six elements.  Both ends of each element must be connected to the controller.  This is accomplished with a jumper wire.

Detail of element pigtail sticking out of the kiln.  An old connector is still on the end of the wire.  It must be cut off and a new sleeve crimped into place.  Then, the wires are crimped onto the pigtail.  The controller wire is stranded, but the element pigtail is two pieces of solid wire twisted together.  This make crimping securely more difficult.

All element wires are connected.  The piece of yellow wire that is still dangling connects the the kiln's pyrometer.

Jo flanged up the job Saturday afternoon.  She's test firing today.

Changing Kiln Elements

Brain Malfunction Leads to Canopy Collapse

Sometimes you do something so incredibly stupid that when you look back on it, you  cannot believe you really did something that dumb.  Jo and I simultaneously went brain dead, wrecking our show canopies in the process.

After bringing the canopies home from our last show, we decided they needed to be set up in the yard and washed off.  The tops were covered with "mud", a thick layer of dust that a heavy dew wetted and then the sun dried.  The sides were still a little damp from the dew.  Hence, we set the canopies up in the yard and hosed them off as we've done many times before.  We finished this chore late in the day, so the canopies needed to remain set up overnight and dry the following day.  Again, we've done this many times in the past.  There was a fairly gusty south wind blowing.  Neither of us thought about the wind increasing overnight.  Neither of us even thought about staking the canopies down like we always do at a show.

The wind did increase overnight.  Although I wasn't there to watch, I'm sure the wind partially picked the canopies up off the ground.  While airborne, a canopy leg or two shifted, coming back down at an angle and bending the fitting it was attached to a little.  After repeating this process several times, the fitting bent a lot and failed completely.  One corner of the canopy collapsed, bending other fittings and poles.  The end result is what you see in the photos.

Seven fittings were bent.  We ordered replacements from the manufacturer.  Three leg poles were also bent.  I will fabricate new ones with thinwall conduit purchased from the hardware store.  The ends of several poles are bent out-of-round.  I'll have to figure out some way to make them round again.  The tops suffered a lot of stress and strain when the frame twisted.  We found one small rip which we taped.  My fear is that the tops suffered works stress damage and will leak badly, especially at the seams.  I guess we'll find out the first time we're set up in the rain.

The irony of the situation is that we had a couple of days of really strong wind while set up over at Bella Vista.  Thunderstorms move through overnight while we were set up in Springfield.  The canopies came through those events just fine -- because they were anchored.  Yet, we come home and damage our show canopies by setting them up in the yard without anchoring them down.  Doh!!!

Update:  The replacement parts arrived.  I fabricated new leg poles.  Jo and I assembled the frames.  Everything went together just fine.  Our canopies are ready to do shows again.  The only thing we have to worry about is the condition of those old tops.

Brain Malfunction Leads to Canopy Collapse

Rinsing Off Show Canopies

Our canopies were filthy when we brought them home from Bella Vista and the sides were damp, so we decided to set them up, wash and let them dry.

Rinsing Off Show Canopies

Waiting In Line

Double Decker Arts Festival (Oxford, MS) ... April, 2011.

The courthouse square is opened to exhibitors for set up at 6:30 AM, but if you want to park and unload anywhere close to your booth, you arrive closer to 5:30 AM. Then, you wait in line.

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Waiting In Line

Lipstick and Dipstick

I learned a couple of valuable lessons while photographing this bumper sticker:

1. Do not kneel down behind a car without first determining if it is occupied and the driver is preparing to back up.

2. Rule #1 is especially valid if the car is a Toyota Prius.

(Double Decker Arts Festival (Oxford, MS) ... April, 2011.)

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Lipstick and Dipstick

Trolley Car

Little Rock, AR, trolley car across the street from Statehouse Convention Center.

(Road trip to Little Rock, AR, for Arkansas Craft Guild's Christmas Showcase at the Statehouse Convention Center … first weekend in December, 2011.)

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Trolley Car