On our way to Augusta you go through many quaint little towns.  The community right before entering North Augusta, SC is an attention grabber.  It is home to a gypsy neighborhood.  There are only a few of these  in the U.S.  There are about 400 gypsies in this community.  They own huge mansions and have trailers behind their homes.  A lot of the homes are closed up with wood on the windows as if a hurricane is coming.   People in the area say that they leave these homes boarded up for about 7 years in order for spirits to leave the house.  In the meantime, they live in these little trailers behind the house.  I was reading some old news clippings from the Augusta newspaper.  They said the gypsies are a very tight group and keep to themselves.  They still have arranged marriages with their cousins to keep outsiders from entering the group.  They are also staunchly catholic.  Here is one of the houses boarded up.  All the houses look very similar in design.  You can’t see the single wide trailer that sits in the backyard.

I used to travel with my d.h. a lot to Augusta, but recently I was either working or had a puppy in training, etc.  Always something going on.  He had to go to the Morris family meeting which is held twice a year and I thought this time I would ride along.

I was curious about the pillar in downtown when I watched a special on The Weather Channel about it.  It was one of the pillars of the old market that was used like the market in Charleston. In the late 1800’s a preacher came to town and was preaching hell and damnation to the point that many people were feeling uncomfortable and eventually ran him out of town.  Before leaving he put his hand on the pillar and cursed the town.  He swore that the market would be destroyed and nothing would be left standing except the single pillar.  Soon afterwards, an out of the ordinary tornado came through and wiped out the entire market except for the one pillar. The curse is believed to be that anyone touching the pillar will become sick or die.  There are many people who have died or become deathly sick after touching the pillar.  My husband told the people in the meeting that he was taking his wife to see it.  They all said, “Don’t touch it.”

 

Our newest addition dressed for Winter.

It is unfortunate that my dear friend, Miss Violet, had a stroke recently.  She has improved a lot and is doing remarkably well.  I have really missed seeing her, so I welcomed the invitation to go back to Laurel Bloomery,Tennessee for a visit.  It was a very special treat to take my d.h. (dearest husband) with me this time.  He loved seeing the area where I had been staying and seeing the beautiful farm in person.  We had fun talking and laughing with Miss Violet.  She has the cutest laugh of anyone I know.  We are praying for more improvements so she can come to Hendersonville to stay a week with us soon.

It was so funny that my sister, Jerri and her d.h. had coincidentally planned to go to Abingdon, Virginia this same weekend.  I decided not to tell her we would be right around the corner from Abingdon and show up on Saturday to surprise them. Today when we left Miss Violet’s, we drove to Abingdon.  My sis texted me while we were driving and said they were enjoying the Martha Inn and would adventure around downtown next.  Right after parking the car we saw them walking along on the other side of the street.  We hid behind a tree until they entered a nearby shop.  I went into the shop and she was listening to a presentation on a variety of cooking oils and vinegar.  I just stood in the group until she turned and saw me. She did a double take in sheer surprise.  It was priceless! We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out together and eating at The Pepper Mill restaurant.  I feel so fortunate that the four of us can spend time together and have so much fun.

Miss Violet has three children, two boys and a girl. The daughter, Marilyn is the one who owns the farm and was married to Rick. Unfortunately he passed on this weekend.

Marilyn has two daughters, Amy and Corrie. Amy and her husband have two kids and live on a hill above my apartment. I can’t see the house but I find comfort in knowing they are there. It gets really dark out there. Corrie lives in the farmhouse with Marilyn. She moved home about 5 months ago to help her mom while her dad was sick.

Marilyn said the last week that Rick was clairevoyant and it was really freaking her out. She would be thinking something and he would answer her thoughts. She said that she knows absolutely she did not ever tell Rick my name. She just told him a lady would be staying in the barn apartment. A few nights before he died, he asked how Janet was doing. Really strange. Death is such a mystery.

Another mysterious thing happened at the farm. When I showed up they took me to my apartment and on the wall was a black and white picture of a man making a guitar. His name is Wayne Henderson. I thought it amazing because my Grandpa was Wayne Henderson and there was a resemblance. I asked Marilyn what color their friend’s hair is and she said red. That is the color of my grandpa’s hair. It will be neat to find out we are related.  Wayne Henderson is a good friend to Marilyn and Rick and is a famous guitar maker and has even visited the Queen of England.
I love how things have been falling together on this work away. I feel that I was supposed to be here for some reason to meet these people. They said God sent me because they had been praying for help and God sent them an angel. Awww. so sweet, but I feel that they are more a blessing to me than I am to them.