1800 square feet of refined rustic comfort! If you are ever in our area, we would love to have you visit. We are located 43 miles north of I-70 on Hwy 79. This highway becomes The Great River Road at Clarksville, as it begins to travel along the Mississippi River going north. We are open Tuesday-Saturday from 10-5, and on Sundays from noon-5. Other shops in our town include photography, windsor chairs, jewelry, glass, pottery, fine craft/art co-op gallery, up-cycled and vintage clothing, a native American drum painter, as well as antique shops and an antique mall. We have restaurants, a golf course, a winery, Mississippi River Lock and Dam #24, lots of historic homes, and various B&Bs. PLUS...all the charm that accompanies a small eclectic river town.

Hello World!

OK, I'm inspired. It only took 11 years, as blogs have been going on since 1999. But...it takes me awhile to get going.

I love life. I love people with all their idiosyncrasies. I love nature. I love to make stuff. I love free supplies. Maybe that's why I'm so drawn to making my driftwood dolls, which I call The Drifters.

This week I got some friends together and we each created one of these fellows with driftwood from the Mississippi River, which we could watch from our classroom. The Mighty Mississippi flows beside Clarksville's main street, and (most of the time) we get along just fine. At the moment, the river is out of its banks, but we are cautiously optimistic that it will not be another Flood of 2008, which brought volunteers and media from all over the country and even the world to our doorstep.

Back to The Drifters. We gathered driftwood from the river, let it dry, then chose from among the 'body parts' a head, a body, a neck, and arms and legs. Using mostly wire and a bit of glue, we assembled them, added embellishments such as moss hair and 'beady' eyes, and...voila...little driftwood people. Everybody had a great time and the whole class took a bit under 2 hours. (Of course, we did our share of talking and laughing; otherwise the class would have been even faster!)