SCOTT'S RAT PATROL

Everyone who knows the Atkins boys knows they simply cannot be without a project waiting in the wings.

Scott's latest project is a 1951 Chevy he couldn't resist buying from their secretary's father. According to her, "It was in good running condition when my dad parked it."

Well. It may have been in running condition but it was not in driving condition when it finally arrived at 381 Village Green Court in Lilburn. Why? The stench! No human being in his right mind could stand sitting behind the wheel of that car.

Further investigation revealed that a large family of rats had taken up residence at some point in time and the previous owner had the bright idea to put rat poison in the car to drive them out. Hah!

Now most thinking people would have known this was not a great idea. No self-respecting Atkins boy would have ever done such a thing. The rats promptly crawled up inside the seats and died there.

There was nothing else to do but tackle the problem. Here you see Scott, suitably clothed in the mask, rubber gloves, and disposable clothing he donned before he approached this unplanned and undesirable task. The result? Eight rat carcasses in varying stages of disintegration were removed. You'll have to take our word for that because we don't want to offend our readers' sensibilities with the evidence.

While old car restoration can bring great satisfaction, it does, sometimes, have a down side. Stay tuned for the up side.

WHAT KIND OF WINE DOES CARL MAKE?

Carl took a wine making class many years ago when we lived in Ohio and has developed his wine-making skills into practically an art form. People are always curious about the kind of wine he makes. The answer is that he can make any kind of wine that it's possible to make.

Thanks to the availability of grape concentrates, he makes Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Pino Grigio, Liebfraumilch, Zinfandel, Chardonnay, Riesling, Chamblis, Chenin Blanc, and Port, to name a few. In addition to that, he makes all kinds of wine from fresh fruit – strawberry, black raspberry, and plum are favorites. The produce manager at our local grocery store has become a good friend.

When we lived in Marengo, Ohio, he made wonderful dandelion, elderberry, blackberry, and sparkling apple wine from fruit we picked on our property. We do not dwell on other less-than-memorable wines his friends talked him into. Suffice it to say that banana wine and tomato wine are every bit as bad as one might imagine. He learned that orange, peach, and pineapple wine made from fresh fruit is pretty awful. If you see these wines for sale they are probably grape wine with artificial flavorings. Run the other way!

Because he uses the same products, techniques, and care as any commercial winery, Carl's wine cannot be classed with most homemade wines. What you see in the picture above is the result of 40 pounds of plums beginning the aging process along with five gallons of Zinfandel. And, no, he doesn't sell it. To do so is illegal. We do look forward to a nice glass of wine before dinner. Our friends enjoy it too.

HOW ACCURATE IS HISTORY ANYWAY?

A certain Judge James H. Miller wrote the following description of Carl's paternal ancestors in the early 1900s. The person who sent it to us was hoping it was his family. He wanted to have the history printed on vellum, elaborately framed, and hung in his den. Alas, he could not claim them but we can. Here, for your enjoyment, is the Honorable Judge's opinion of our early family:

"One of the oldest families of people in all this region of the New River Valley was that of Adkins/Atkins or Atkins. They are said to have come into this region during the time of the Revolutionary War, and were first discovered living under cliffs on the Summers side of the river from New Richmond Falls, supposed to be the magnificent cliffs in the canyon at the mouth of Laurel Creek which empties into the New River half a mile from Lick Creek at New Richmond Post Office. They were hunters and trappers in the earliest days, and have continued so as long as there was game in this region, and their descendants are scattered one place and another throughout this region and other counties.

Once in awhile you will find a member of the generation rising above the common level, but no great advancements have been made in this race. There was a Parker Adkins/Atkins, a man noted for his nose, the end of it being half the size of a man's fist; Riley Adkins/Atkins, known as the "Chestnut Mountain Lawyer"; Leonard Adkins/Atkins living in the Chestnut Mountain area; Albert Adkins/Atkins, one of the most intelligent, lives near Hinton. Hen Adkins/Atkins, one of the race, was drowned in Laurel Creek with L. M. Alderson's wedding suit on. Mr. Alderson was married twice and this was the suit he had purchased for his first marriage. He said that he sold a steer to secure the broadcloth suit. Sometimes the name is spelled Atkins and sometimes Adkins/Atkins. The Gills are said to have come into the country about the same time and to have lived about the same way. The Gills and the Adkins/Atkins have intermarried. There is an intelligent family by the name of Atkins, now residing in the Little Bluestone country of a different generation. A thriftless, harmless, indolent, unambitious race of people but without malicious cunning or dangerous, indigenous race are the Gills and Adkins/Atkins. Possibly the ancestors were Tories who emigrated into this then vastness to escape military service."

Now I have to tell you the honorable Judge was wrong about a few things. Several of the Adkins/Atkins males served in the Revolutionary War and received large land grants in the area that became West Virginia. They undoubtedly owned those cliffs they were living under. Although Carl's grandfather was named Parker Adkins, he wasn't this particular Parker with the big nose and we claim no knowledge of Mr. Alderson's wedding suit or why one of the family was wearing it that day. We only know one Gill family, Sue and Jim, but they are from Florida and they don't look like us. There may be some strong cliff-dwelling tendencies remaining to the present day, however, as evidenced by these photographs of Carl and his bride. Where in the world could he have found her? She must have been from a similar race.

YANK'S STUDEBAKER

Since this is a guy blog, we must stick to guy kinds of things. Today we will feature Yank's Studebaker. Yank is an antique car buff who is also Santa Claus each Christmas with his glorious white fluffy beard. Scott and Greg met him at the car shows they frequent.

Unfortunately, we have no pictures of Yank but we do have pictures of his Studebaker. It's a most unique old car that, like most old cars, needs tender loving care to restore it to its former glory – especially when it comes to everything made of cloth.

Now there is no more meticulous person than Scott when it comes to upholstery. It's a skill he learned during his high school days while working at Egelhoff Interiors in Columbus, Ohio. In between doing upholstery, he filled in at the Egelhoff Art Gallery openings where he dressed up in his black leather custom-made hat, black pants and shirt, and served sherry to discerning patrons of the arts. But that's another story.

Today we're sharing some of Scott's handiwork on Yank's Studebaker. Now I ask you, doesn't it look like a brand new car?