Wow! I can't believe I've done it again. All the good intentions I've had to keep up this blog have just vanished. Hopefully, you will forgive and I will do better. Actually, it is often hard to find something to write about. Don't know why that is as I don't have much trouble having something to say when you guys call me on the phone. Maybe my issue is just not being disciplined enough to sit down and create something you would even be remotely interested in. But I will try. If you haven't seen the lineup for September, here it is. We will be putting the daily schedule together in a couple of weeks and you will have showtimes then. I hope you will be as excited as we are about the bands this year. THURSDAY'S lineup features the Gibson Brothers, Trinity River Band, Larry Cordle & Lonesome Standard Time, Jimbo Whaley & Greenbrier and a new band - Mark Kuykendall, Bobby Hicks & Asheville Bluegrass. FRIDAY will offer up a big day of music with Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, Flatt Lonesome, Sideline, Steve Gulley & New Pinnacle and Chris Henry & Hardcore Grass. SATURDAY will be an exciting mix of bands featuring John Cowan with Darin & Brooke Aldridge, The Seldom Scene, Breaking Grass, Becky Buller and The Grascals. I hope this will whet your appetite for good music. So, make your plans to join us now. Give us a call (865-397-7942) for camping info. Currently the campground is full but we have started a waiting list and we are usually able to place everyone as there are always a few folks who find that they need to cancel due to various circumstances. We look forward to hearing from you with whatever questions you might have. Now onto other business. Here are a few photos of a few happenings since last September............

We attended the Palatka festival this year and saw a lot of our Dumplin Valley friends.

Got just enough snow this year.

Ran into Ted and Irene Lehmann at Palatka. Always good to see them.

In the off season we use the barn for important things like riding your bike when it's too wet outside.

While the destruction of the pool was going on Joe decided to get rid of some boulders.

After many years of enjoying it and 3 years of not using it, we decided enough was enough and filled in the pool. The grandkids will be getting a playground instead and we will gain some nice outdoor space for Papa & Grammy to use.

No pot of gold to be found anywhere!

I think this speaks for itself.

The annual Easter egg hunt was well attended.

We hid about 750 eggs.

Farmer Joe took the kids around the farm/campground after all the eggs were collected. Well............almost all the eggs were found.  Joe "found" a couple when he mowed.

It was a really good day for the hunt.  These 3 found a great spot to watch all the action.

Farmer Joe's best buddy loves that tractor.

Sophie (black dog) & Rufus (Lab) enjoying the weather.

iPod Swaps

Yesterday on my way home from Denver I was seated next to a very nice young lady from Johannesburg, South Africa. Noticing that she was using the earphones for her iPod, I decided to see if she might be interested in passing the time on our flight by swapping iPods. We already had our earphones out and hooked up to the in flight tv's.
I find it interesting to see what other people are listening to.....especially someone from another country. So, she was all for it except for the fact that she couldn't reach her iPod. You see............a lady had fainted in the aisle next to our row and my seatmate couldn't get up to get her iPod from the overhead bin. But I had a book to read and was more than happy to let her listen to mine. I asked her if she liked bluegrass (even though my iPod has all kinds of music on it) and she said "What?" so I repeated it and then she informed me that she didn't know what bluegrass was. It only took me a minute to explain it a little and then I handed over my iPod and I can only assume that she was really enjoying it because she was dancing in her seat and looked very happy. At one point she handed me the earphones and said "what is this instrument?". It was a banjo! I glanced over and she was scrolling through a bunch of songs and really was enjoying herself. Hopefully, we now have a new bluegrass convert in South Africa. Since she comes to the states quite often, maybe she will visit us here.
Unfortunately, I didn't get her name and I couldn't reach my flyers for the same reason she couldn't reach her iPod. She was really impressed with Rhonda Vincent when she landed on her music. It was fun to see her discover a new genre of music and enjoy it. Think I'll try that again on my next long flight.m

Bluegrass Unlimited Chart

Have you seen the new BU with Rhonda's photo on the front? After you read her article, take a look at page 67 at the record chart. We have the bands who perform 11 of the 30 songs on this month's chart. And out of the top 15 albums we have the #1, 2, 4, 6, 7, and #8 bands.