2012 Comes to Leetonia

Well, we went to Charlotte's New Year's Eve festivities at the Cedar Run Inn this year. We have about a 50/50 chance of making it downstream as the roads can be icy this time of year. But it was amazingly warm New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Reaching almost 50 degrees on New Year's Day and the sun coming out to visit until the rain started in the afternoon.
Charlotte gave a try to hula hooping and I got stuck wearing the 2012 glasses. We are all hoping for a more prosperous year for the valley in 2012. So many people just scraping by and most businesses hitting new all time lows.
I worked both days getting some outside work done while the weather cooperated. Today the temperature has plummeted to the twenties and snow is on the way. So looks like we aren't going to be able to stave off winter much longer.
While working my job on over the weekend near Slate Run. I had a visitor. Each day an eagle flew up and down the
creek and sat on a tree not far from me looking for fish.
Pine creek is running full with all the rain we have had lately and it looked like the eagle was hoping for a fish or two to make a wrong turn. If no fish, there is always the occasional duck that volunteers for dinner.
It is snowing now and the promise is for a small amount of snow today. However, you never know until it comes what we will end up with. I am enjoying today off as not many of the local lumber yards are open and it seems a nice cold day to stay in and read a book. Have a great Leetonia year to all our friends far and near! Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Mountain Creativity

This made me laugh so much I had to share it with you. Stanley and Charlotte's son, Matt had a motorcycle accident and they decided to use this old wheelchair while he was there recovering.

Well, the front wheel was broke so you would naturally try to buy one right? Not in Cedar Run; we make our own wheels. Who cares if they are wooden. I have to give Stanley credit, looks pretty round. The feet in the picture belong to Lee; she wanted to make sure you all knew.

On the healing front I am getting better each day, which means I don't want to be in this thing that keeps me still. I have another 7 weeks imprisonment until my next check up and I am trying to find ways to remain sane. Getting all of your cards of support is a welcome relief to my misery and I appreciate all of you. Enjoy the wooden wheel. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out!

Starting the New Year 2008

New Year's Eve celebration at Cedar Run Inn wouldn't be complete without the traditional naughty snowman. I will say this year's snowman is more presentable than in years past so you get the idea of valley humor with only a PG rating.

About a dozen or so people attended Charlotte and Stanely Dudkin's annual celebration, which manly includes her family, past and present
employees.

The second picture is Cozzette and her husband John Stoltzfus. Cozzette works at the Inn and "Johnny" is a local handyman.

The third picture is Albert,"Sonny", Margaret's husband. Margaret is Charlotte's sister. As you can see Sonny is very excited about 2008 to the point of barely keeping his eyes open.

The annual required game of Pictionary was played and I am happy to say for the first year I was on the winning team. Never let Charlotte and her sisters: Margaret and June on the same team. They have some sort of psychic link and beat all of us terribly.

A champagne toast brought in the New Year at Cedar Run. No ball dropping or famous Celebrities except on the Television, but memories made at a place less touched by the chaos of the world. A place where playing simple games and spending time with modern day mountain folk is still fun.
We've only missed this celebration once when the roads were too icy from Leetonia to Cedar Run to dare the trip. This night the roads although not great(narrow in a couple places due to snow slides) were passable by those of us immune to the fears of sliding off. Well maybe not immune, but we tremor a little less than the person who doesn't know every rock and stone of the way.
Coming home that night we reminisced about each spot of the road we have been stuck at since moving up here. I will tell you knowledge of the road does not come cheap. Rarely a mile goes by that we can't point out a spot we have had to dig ourselves out of or walk home. The worst being my 3 mile walk home in absolute darkness (no flashlight) although I did have my dog,Jack, whom I couldn't see most of the way. Jack would check in on me with a cold nose to my hand and thank goodness I knew it was a dog and not a bear or big cat. The reflection off of the snow made it barely possible to see where to place your feet. I can tell you a three-mile shuffle, wet from kneeling in the snow digging your car out multiple times, was not fun. But isn't that what memories are made of, "trials."
So in the gloom of my trials or the joys of my celebrations, I know one thing, it will make a good story to tell the grand-children. So 2008, time for the next Chapter in the Mountain Girls' story.

Mountain Girl, Paula, wishing you a Great 2008!

Christmas in the Valley

The SlateRun general store has a wonderful little Christmas Window I wish I could have taken a picture showing the whole thing but the glare on the window made it so I had to be close for a picture. The Santa looks like half the mountain men up here showing off their white beards. There is a cute cabin as well and many neat things in the store. Not many people were up yesterday and we had a nice chat with Tom and Deb Finkbinder the owners of the store. There is something special about the quiet slow nature of things this time of year that many of the locals look forward to.















I also took a great picture of Charlotte Dudkins tree at Cedar Run Inn. She does most of her decorating on Thanksgiving weekend and warns visitors not to eat the candy canes on the tree. She says they are at least four years old and probably wouldn't taste too good. She strings popcorn and cranberries as well, but says the cranberries look more like raisins when they dry out. Stanley was out working on the plow, which he says always runs in July and decides to come to a halt at the first snowflake. We are getting snow today with a combination sleet snow as of 2:30pm we had about 4 inches not near the storm they predicted. Of course locally it is considered a no storm the more it is talked about. It is the ones you don't hear much about that catch you waist deep in the white stuff. Have a wonderful Leetonia day. Mountain girl, Paula, logging off.