Tumble Creek

[4rum]

Tumble Creek

Tumble Creek wasn’t much of a creek till it fell off the side of Hick’ry Flats. Waaaay up there it was just a wet spot in Buster Johnsons’ pasture field. It did manage to swall’er Buster’s ol’ Fordson a time ‘er two and occasionally he’d lose a cow, but other than that it was pretty well behaved.

Once it turned off the flat though, Tumble Creek got a might unruly. In the first two hun’nerd feet it dropped… uh… two hun’nerd feet. After that it got steep and swift fer a piece and was real hard to fish!

When Uncle Burley was a young’un… not much mor’n a ‘cousin’ Burley, he used to climb up there with a ‘baccer can full of crickets and catch native Brookies. He’d break ‘em back, unzip ‘em an’ roast ‘em on a stick… right there on the creek. Uncle Burley loved poached trout, ‘specially when they was roasted.

They was good holes all in Tumble Creek back then. She rolled over cool, gray limestone boulders in there bigger’n a log truck. They was a few log trucks in there too, but Uncle Burley usually preferred the more ‘natural’ structure. Gasoline made the trout taste funny and if you didn’t watch, they’d pop coals in yer tenner shoes.

The laurel tried to keep the creek in her banks an’ it was shady an’ dark up on that part of the creek… cut banks… blowdowns…backups and wild trout! It wasn’t unusual to drop a cricket in there and have it git et. ............

Then come conservation, then come putantake trout, then come velveeta… an’ that reg’lar delivery sort of caught Uncle Burley’s attention.
Now Uncle Burley, bein’ pretty adaptable, adapted right quick to trout delivery… knock the heads off, they still fit the same skillet. But then… THEN come the fly fishermen, and Uncle Burley’s peace and tranquility were forever compromised.

Oh it weren’t no problem comin’ up with a fly pole. Uncle Burley was able to swap Chub Amick a coffee sack of hulled black walnuts fer a dandy. Eight and a half foot, she was… before Uncle Burley shut ‘er up in the car door anyway… she’s a might shorter now. Still plenty of action though… Uncle Burley could tell that from just swishin’ ‘er.

Any experienced fisherman can swish a pole and’ tell you all about it’s action… SWISHA… wirfa,wirfa,wirfa… "um-hm, um-hm… feels jest about righ……… ‘LEVIN DOLLARS!!! Hell’s Far! … that rods waaaaay to stiff… like a dang boat oar…hummmmph".

‘Emme see… six fifty… oh yeah, now there’s a fly rod. Now just swish that’n a time ‘er two… SWISH… wirfa, www… tink, ting, tinkle……………………. here Billy… pick ‘at up… we can glue it back on when we git home".

But Uncle Burley’s ‘traded up’ pole was good enough fer him. Solid glass… why that little beauty couldn’t a weighed mor’n two ‘er three pounds. Come with a good reel too, all it needed was a spring…’mind me to tell you THAT story sometime!!! I’ll tell you all about when Uncle Burley almost put one in.

But now comes the hitch. Tumble Creek wasn’t close to nuthin’. Posey was too far to walk, an they didn’t sell trout flies in Posey any way. Why Ol’ man Loomis’ bait shop had just recently started stockin’ grampusses reg’lar.

NOTE: Freebles Dictionary defines gram-pus as what Cousin Scooter catches an’ sells Loomis’ Bait Shop fer ten cents a dozen, an’ what Loomis’ Bait Shop sells to the public at large fer fifty cents a dozen. Also known as larvae of the dobson fly, hil-der-bite, helgramite and sonsab*tches! Once they grow wings they are most often referred to as sumob*tches… as in "Holy crap!!! That sumob*tch went down my shirt!!! Hellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllp! Helpmehelpmehelpme… EEEEEP!

Meanwhile, the fellers that showed up in their Studebakers an’ Hudson’s an’ Packards… well they HAD trout flies, brung ‘em with ‘em… had waders, an’ vests, an’ dressing, an’ leaders, an’ creels, an’ nets …an’… an’ … an’ … sheesh, fishin’ was a lot easier when Uncle Burley was a youngin’. But to get in on this new fad… and a section of the creek now only open to fly fishermen… Uncle Burley fig’gered he’d have to learn to "roll his own". Couldn’t be too hard… shoot, he HAD hooks…an’ a hose clamp. Now all he needed was some hair… uh… ‘scuse me… dubbing.
Hmmmmmm … where was that cat? "Here Turnup… kitty, kitty, kitty…"
Kunk, akunk, akunk…KAAAAK………………………….

[Soupy_1us]

Atta Boy, Turnup... I knew he'd come thru in a pinch......Just wonderin' tho... In them Studibakers,Hudsuns an' Packards...There weren't no Schoe with his new yeller lookin' truck inner tube float thingy was there? ( I ain't fogot 'bout that one) an' ifin' there was, how come ya didn't get his picture?




'nother good one 4rum....

[4rum]

Matter o' fack't he's been up to look at the left hand fork. It's a little more inaccessable, a little more remote and a little more steeper than h-e double hocky sticks ! ! ! ... I 'blieve he's busy gerry riggin' a parachute to that tube so's he can get a better drift acros't the Rucker hole. ... Uh.. pre-sen-tation an' all you know.....

[Timotha7]

Great Story Sam!

Can flat see Tumble Creek and can for sure see them fishermen shoulder to shoulder on
the creek banks too
Why I fish at night now

[4rum]

Yeah... know what you mean... I used to fish at night all the time... young'uns bought me a license for my birthday... I can fish 24/7 now... put a whole new light on fishin'.... iffin you know what I mean.:icon_cool:

[gofish]

4rum....aint as much fun now yer all legal like is it? :icon_razz: always a pleasure ta read the new ones......maybe we oughtta start a magazine er sumpthin. be our version of harry n charlie.sure got nuff tween you an soupy fer adventures an rest of us could write bout catchin fish an such lol

[Timotha7]

LOL Sam I am with you
My Daughter an grand kids buy my license for my Bday every year too
Kinda nice to have it handy when you need it
Last time I took them out though it was sitting on the desk :-P

[Soupy_1us]

License? What License ?

[4rum]

Careful now Soupy... you're a fixin' to learn somthin' :confused0068:

[Soupy_1us]

:frown: I shore do miss ole 4rum :confused0082: Don't know what my kin-folk are doin' with him gone:confused:

[gofish]

jus think of the shine party theys havin an 4rum aint round ta let us git an invite lol

[4rum]

Mornin' ya'll...

Most of the shine parties I've been to (and there have been a few) you don't need an invitation... just pull up a stump an' uncork a jug. :party0016:

[gofish]

back safe an sound huh? looks like ifn i want any im gonna have ta build me a cooker .....start scroungin parts now i guess lol.cant afford brand new copper fer sure

[Soupy_1us]

HE's HOME,HE's HOME ...My little buddy is home at last....!!!!!!!!!!

[4rum]

... he,he... hmmm... I'd sorta planned to ease on back in... but after such a welcome home from Ol' Soupy..... weeeelllllllllllllllllll................

... hells f'ar ya'll, it's good to be home ! ! ! Hey Soupy.... Tim .... gofish.... EVERBODY ! ! ! ! !

[gofish]

hey 4rum......think soupys got that there "central air" conditionin thing...hear tell theys lots a copper in them .......think ya can keep him laughin long nuff fer me ta "borrow" some fer my cooker?

[4rum]

... dunno... maybe if ya was to take him fishin' you could 'worm' a little out of him.

You know what... all jokin' aside... I LIKE jokin' about some of the old stuff, like that copper worm for th' still... store bought teeth... two holers... ain't many of us folks left what's really lived.

Any of ya'll ever work th' thrash box ? ? ?

[Soupy_1us]

Thrash Box? ...Mighta been called something different around here...Ya know we live in different parts of the world......Give me a Clue.

[4rum]

Hi Soupy... the 'thrash box' was the threshing machine. 'Round here, come harvest time, all the hands would gang up an' foller the thrash box farm to farm an' thrash th' wheat, oats, barley, an' other grain crops like that. The thrash box was tall an' narrow... had rope loops on either side so's the men could get on the 'uphill' side an' keep 'er from turnin' over.

First recollections of the thrash box it was pulled by a team of horses farm to farm then set up, leveled and powered by the huge gas engine we 'borrowed' from the grist mill. The engine was pulled on a set of timbers made into runners and pulled by a team of oxen. A belt about 8 inches wide and probably 20 foot long (doubled) was crossed in the middle to keep the drive wheel from throwin' 'er. It ran from the engine to the thrash box.

Wheat (or other grain, stalks and all) was fed into the top of the thrash box. The grain was separated from the stalk and some of the chaff and went through chutes to containers below. It was then sacked.

The stalks went out the back onto a straw rick. It was used to bed animals through the winter and even sometimes used to fill straw ticks (matresses) that folks slept on. I have slept on a straw tick... not bad 'cept for an occasional sand brier.

The women followed the thrash box too. They cooked.... emme tell you somethin' ... that food was fittin' to eat. Creasey greens, country ham, sweet taters, Cranberry beens, pintos an' yaller eyes too... pickles, boiled cabbage, fried cabbage, fried taters lifted from a hole... sweet slaw, sweet milk, butter milk... 'cow' butter... molasses that we made, corn bread, biscuits and some of Granmaw Richmonds pickled carrots 'n' beets... good stuff.

Any how... that's a right smart of a clue... but I'll try to find a picture...

...... fellers....... it was better times.......................

[Soupy_1us]

I don't reckon I remember that far back but, my Grand Paw was the man that brought the first steam powered "thrash box" into this part of the woods....I seen pictures of that one....(now, I didn't say he owned it.....he just drove it) I think he was workin' for The O'Nan Farms here in the county at the time. That was a couple of weeks 'fore my time.
The only "thrash box" I ever seen was the coal shed ! Use to get some good thrashin's out there.

[gofish]

dang ya made me hungry 4rum seen pics of em here but never worked one lol.....round here ya cant hardly even buy blackstrap at a store anymore.....:icon_mad: used ta own an old sawmill had one of those big ole belts like that..

[Schoe]

All this brings to mind the photos my mother kept in her vanity. They were mostly of her dad and brothers using the old thrashing machine you fellas are talking about, steam powered and all the wagons were Horse or Mule drawn.

Keep in mind my mother was born in 1900 so those photos were taken sometime 1910 and 1920.

My fathers parents homestead in South Dakota and I have the original Homestead paper Woodrow Wilson signed.

I will look around and see if I can dig out some of those old photos and share.

Thanks so much for taking my thoughts back so far as it has been a lot of years since I had thought of those old photos and times. Schoe

[4rum]

Mornin' ya'll...
gofish... we used to make them 'lassies. We grew sorghum cane, stripped the blades (leaves) bundled 'em and tied 'em up for fodder. Cut the cane (NEVER let the cut end touch the ground... gets grit in the molasses)... topped it and run 'er through a cane mill. I still have the old cane mill stored under my mom's house (along with a HUGE sausage grinder).

Hey Schoe... I'd LOVE any old pics that you could share. I particularly like pictures of the clothing, houses, farms and farming... and children. If you look in the old pictures... the boys and girls are always smiling... I like that a lot.

[4rum]

Making molasses...

On the right is my Grandfather, Julian. On the left, I think is, Aunt Amy Amick from Ohio. Friends and family came from several surrounding states when it was 'lassie time. We usually made betwee 3 and 4 hundred gallons. Sold then for $2.00 a gallon... an' Poppy (My Grandfather) made the best around.

[gofish]

grampa used ta always let us "sneak" a few pieces of cane ta nibble on lol

[4rum]

Aft'noon gofish...

... yep we nibbled on the sugary cane stalks too. We'd stick the seed heads in the fire an' pop 'em like pop corn too. They popped into really small puffs, but popped just like popcorn.

Kids seem to find these things out.... uh.. video games an' playstations was kinder scarce back then.

[gofish]

now we never did that one lol........was they sweet too?....gramma on my dads side was full cherokee indian..new all the old wood lore an such,she passed fore she got a chance ta teach me a whole lot but remember goin out "gatherin" come back with all kinds a good stuff,once in a while shed find a beehive an boy that was a treat.....sure aint much im fraid of eatin cause of her ....least once lol

[4rum]

Folks on my mother's side were always 'gatherin'. They'd a fit right in with Ol' Euell Gibbons. We used a lot of herbals for home remedies too.

Right now I got my eye on some Sunchokes (Jerusalem Artichokes). I've never tried 'em but I've located some right next door. Neighbor said I could have a start of 'em. Supposed to look something like 'taters. Research says thery're better after frost... don't know if I can wait that long.

Pays to know what you're eatin' 'specially when it comes to mushrooms... so be careful ya'll but enjoy when ya' can.

[Soupy_1us]

Artichoke Relish:
5 qts Jerusalem Artichokes
3 lbs white cabbage
6 green Peppers
1 qt Onions (coarsely round)
3 lbs Sugar
1 Small box Mustard
1 gal vinegar
2 Tablespoons Turmeric
1 Tablespoon Black Pepper
3 Tablespoons White Mustard Seed
3/4 cup flour

Scrub Artichokes, cut fine, and soak in 1 gal of water with 2 cups of salt for twenty four hours.
Coarsely grind the peppers,cabbage,and onion and mix sugar, black pepper, mustard seed, dry mustard, and vinegar. Bring mixture to a boil, and cook until vegetables are clear. Add Artichokes, return to a boil, and stir in turmeric. Pour immediately into hot sterilized jars and seal.. (FoxFire 3 )



I got a bunch of them recipees around here at the house....even help ya Tan a hide ifin ya want too....But, that's giller's job (hide tannin')

[Soupy_1us]

Really,I couldn't 'member all this old time livin' so I went a found the whole dang set ( I got 15 books so far) of "FoxFire" books.....Tells ya all ya wanna know about plain mountain livin' and such....Even how to build your own still.

[Soupy_1us]

Seems like everybody is always wantin' a "New Topic" to talk about....Wonder ifin' we can get Tim to start up a new thread for us older fellers on here....Something like: Remember your past or My Trip Back Home.....
This could be a place for us to post some old time living' type stuff and try to keep it alive.....
Bein's most of us Old Timers won't be around much longer and I know there's a bunch of young'uns on this site.(most of which wouldn't know what we were talkin' about.)...Maybe, just maybe....Somebody can take all the information we put on here and write them a book or something.......Call it Old Ways of Livin' by WIF ! Can make funny or serious but, just write it all down....



Or maybe not. Funny... This started out bein' a good idea in my head but, after puttin' it in writin' and thinkin' 'bout it for a minute, it don't sound as good as it started......


Never mind !:confused0024:

[4rum]

Dunno Soupy... I'm all for it. Schoe might need a bunch more bandwidth if I start thinkin' about "The Good Ol' Days"... :icon_biggrin:

I really do like your idea though, I know I'd enjoy stories and pictures from others. Wouldn't hurt to add home remedies, old time 'how to's' and stuff like that either. Shouldn't be much trouble to throw up a disclaimer to cover WIF as far as the validity aspect is concerned.

If it didn't fly... we could always quit. :confused0024:

[Timotha7]

I think it is a dang good idea myself--lets run it by Schoe and see what he says an
then perhaps we can get a forum area set up

Pictures, stories, chat area that kinda thing ??

[Soupy_1us]

Country Roads by WIF !


Sorry ....I was just thinkin' out loud. :confused0024:

[4rum]

Hey Soupy... Tim has opened the door for us... let's drag him along till he squeals..... (or at least giggles).

[gofish]

yep they is a mite better after a frost,bout like persimmons, found a tree last fall where i can pick em from the boat.got each of my boys ta try a green one.....lol....shoulda seen the puckers :icon_razz:

[Soupy_1us]

I got one thing to say 'bout this one......HuH?


yep they is a mite better after a frost,bout like persimmons, found a tree last fall where i can pick em from the boat.got each of my boys ta try a green one.....lol....shoulda seen the puckers :icon_razz:

[Soupy_1us]

I got the rope !


Hey Soupy... Tim has opened the door for us... let's drag him along till he squeals..... (or at least giggles).

[Soupy_1us]

and ifin' it's local old time pictires you're showin'.. Maybe do a "before and after" shot....Show what it use to look like and what it looks like now.



Man.......................I'm gettin' that headache moma told me I'd get ifin' I thunk too much.

[Soupy_1us]

pssst: 4rum.................go up to Soupy's Kentucky Korner (http://www.whereifish.com/thepond/forumdisplay.php?f=163) and see what I got started

[4rum]

I got one thing to say 'bout this one......HuH?

Now Soupy... HUSH... you'll wake him up ! :icon_razz:

[4rum]

pssst: 4rum.................go up to Soupy's Kentucky Korner (http://www.whereifish.com/thepond/forumdisplay.php?f=163) and see what I got started

... on my way... uh... it was hook a left at 'hows you day'... right ?

[Soupy_1us]

Right...left at the "R" you left out...................right.............Just go look !

[gofish]

see now yall dun rubbed off on me,that theres sposed ta be elsewhere.be quiet an leave me lone.im goin meditatin.....an ifn my wifey asks im blamin tee....all his idear:party0016: