This blog shares Granny’s birthday. Yesterday Blind Pig & the Acorn turned 17 years old. Wow! I can hardly believe I’ve been writing about my home in Appalachia for so long.
It seems only yesterday that I wrote my first blog post. Here’s the introduction paragraph to it:
“Welcome! Glad you stopped by and hope you stop by often as I celebrate my Appalachian Heritage. I have always had a love for history, antiques, vintage finds—basically anything old. As long as I can remember I have craved a connection with my heritage and the creativity that abounds in it. My hope is that through this blog I can begin to understand how the love for the past can be woven into a hope for the future as well as an appreciation for the present.”
Every line from that first paragraph that introduced the world to Blind Pig and the Acorn still rings true today. I’m still crazy in love with the culture and heritage of Appalachia. I love the people, food, music, folklore, language, towering mountains, and deep dark hollers.
After all these years I’m still excited about celebrating all things Appalachia and humbled, thrilled, and encouraged by the connection I make to people all over the world.
Along with my passion for Appalachia the amazing folks (that means YOU) who drop by often are the reason Blind Pig and the Acorn has lasted for almost 20 years.
Back in 2008 when I first started the blog I had no idea that it would reach all the way around the world, nor that it would enrich and change my life in the way it has.
I aim to continue writing blog posts about Appalachia and I sure hope you’ll continue to read them.
Granny was honored by all the birthday wishes you left for her yesterday. She had a really good birthday and you were part of it!
Last night’s video: You Ask We Answered: Mountain Lions, Matt’s Beard, & More!
Tipper
Subscribe for FREE and get a daily dose of Appalachia in your inbox
Wow! You all at the Blind Pig and the Acorn deserve so many thanks for all that you have put into your blog. I’ve learned so much and I’m so grateful that I found this blog. I feel as though you are my newest family members and you have made my mind to start thinking and learning about so many things about mountain life and so much more. I thank y’all from the bottom of my heart. Happy Anniversary and keep being as successful as you have been. Continued success in the future. Love y’all. May God continue to bless y’all and those of us who enjoy the Blind Pig and the Acorn. So happy for Granny Wilson, 85 years strong, I truly enjoy any input she gives to everyone. Jennifer
I wasn’t here for the birth but it couldn’t have more than two or three when I showed up. It’s the only blog I read, ever did or ever will.
Happy Birthday to the Blind Pig and the Acorn!! I found your YouTube channel and then your blog almost two years ago. I actually never really fooled around much with you tube before that. Now I watch yours and the girls videos every day. I could just watch you all and nothing else. It is always informative, sometimes funny, and forever entertaining. I feel like part of a big family as I read and enjoy the post and comments each day. I would be so sad if you ever gave up on this blog, so please keep on keeping on….and we will hang here right along with ya. I hope Granny and the whole family has a super good time at her party this weekend.
Congratulations on your 17th year anniversary, Tipper, and a belated Happy Birthday to Granny! I’m so glad I found your blog a few years ago, and I’m so grateful to have found this community of kindred spirits. I enjoy their comments very much, too. Too often, Appalachian people are written about as backward, uneducated people, but your blog certainly debunks that myth! Thanks for sharing your talented family with us and for all you do in keeping our wonderful Appalachian heritage alive.
Congratulations for 17 yrs of teaching us about Appalachia, bringing us into your beautiful world and embracing us as part of your family. I found your channel during the worst of Covid & have been addicted to it since. I’m 73 & since the day my Dad took us to Maggie Valley & beyond when I was 9 yrs old, I have always been in love with that area. I always said I would move there someday, but that didn’t work out. However, I have visited there very often up until Covid hit. While visiting there, I would often wonder if the people living there really loved those mountains, streams, & culture as much as I did. I have finally got my answer from your channel. Tipper, I am so proud of your accomplishments! Love to you all & prayers for Granny.
Happy Birthday to those channel Ames Granny. You have done a great job with the channel and I enjoy watching it every morning at 5 am.
Happy Birthday BP&A! I don’t recall how many years I have been following you, but it’s a lot! I have loved every single post! Thank you for keeping our heritage and dialect alive! May there be many more blessings to come!!
Happy Birthday Blind Pig and Acorn I so enjoy your writings every day!! Gotta get to my sewing and warshing:) God bless ya all and pray you have a great weekend!
Happy Birthday to The Blind Pig and Acorn !!! What joy you share with us all !!! We wish you continued joy & success !!!
Congratulations, Tipper! What a wonderful accomplishment and to do something you truly love is the icing on the cake! Because of you I have learned so much about Appalachia. Happy Birthday BP&A!
Congratulations, Tipper; your blog speaks volumes to so many. May your success continue and suddenly you turn around and it’s year 25. Thanks for allowing your readership to be a part of your life …….
Congratulations on 17 years!! Hope you keep it up for many more years
Tipper, the first time I met you I felt as though I’d known you all my life! Thanks for sharing your love for Appalachia. Happy Birthday BP&A.
Congratulations and Blessings to Tipper and family, ALL YA’LL there in Appalachia , place very dear to me. We live on a windy ridge with wild turkey, bobcats, coyotes, deer, all that one finds in the Southern woodlands. Abundance of birds. May the Lord shine on you as you go thru your days and nights together in that beautiful land in the hills above us.
Congratulations and ‘Happy Blog-birth-day#17 Tipper!! How does it feel to be 17 again? 🙂 Seriously – I am so happy you braved stepping out into the world of blogging, and I am blessed through every post and video you share – and thankful that I ‘found’ you! (and your family). BIG HUGS!!!
Happy 17th birthday, BP&A! We’re birthday twins!
I love this blog so much! I lived in Eastern Kentucky for a short time, and so loved my time there. Thank you for sharing your lives with us.
Congratulation! I love your blog and I feel like I’m chatting with a neighbor when I read it. It’s so uplifting, especially with all the doom and gloom everywhere.
I for one hope Blind Pig and the Acorn continues for yet another 17 years! I turn 76 in August so I figure this way I will have the pleasure of reading your blog till the day I die, Tipper! You can be very proud of what you have accomplished and the side benefit is all your fans get to read this and watch videos on U Tube! You have educated us all on many things and shared many recipes with us. God has surely blessed you and us!!
Congratulations on 17 years! Love your posts! Continued prayers for Granny!
Joanna
God Bless You!
I look forward to reading your blog everyday. Monday through Friday I read it on my 15 min. break at work. Have to have my daily dose of Appalachia!
Happy 17th Birthday to BP&A. Your blog is a daily blessing to many people.
Thank you
Tipper, your blog and YouTube channel greatly enrich my life and teach me so much. I’m so thankful you started Blind Pig & The Acorn 17 years ago!
Congratulations on 17 years. I read your blog ever morning. And watch yours and the girls video as soon as are available on YouTube. I love ever on of them. You are my medication for all of my anxiety and stress. Thanks for being such a blessing to us all.
God bless all of you. Happy Birthday to Granny too
A late Happy Birthday to Granny!…Ive enjoyed your blog for years now and especially the food recipes and humor.
Happy 85 years young to Appalachia’s Favorite vlogged/blogged-about Granny and Happy 17th to (undoubtedly) Appalachia’s BEST and favorite Blog, Blind Pig & The Acorn! I hope Granny had a wonderful day and enjoys her Holy Smoke cake and time with her family! And thank YOU, Tipper, for all you continue to do on the blog and YouTube to celebrate our Appalachian heritage and history and for sharing your sweet and wonderful family with all of us! You guys feel like part of my own family or like we’ve all been neighbors and friends for years. Wishing you all many more years of love and celebrations!
Tipper, the BP&A story, and many others like it, will be studied and noted in academia for decades to come. Each such from-the-grassroots effort has added to a cumulative weight of American “community” that affects the whole nation, and even beyond. Just one example is the outpouring of support from ‘rank strangers’ to Helene survivors. That is community spirit with muscles and in action. None of this is meant to minimize your 17 years, rather it is to say the good effects of BP&A reach beyond your – or our – knowing. An example is you being cited in the Appalachian dictionary, bringing the work of Joseph Hall, Michael Montgomery and others into the 21rst century. But the most amazing thing of all to me is a certain spirit of unity here. I can no more describe it well than I can fly but I know each of us feel it. When the day comes again (and it will) that you are asked the secret of your success, I think an answer might be something like ‘our hearts touched’.
Ron, this comment is absolutely beautiful!!! Thank you for sharing these rich thoughts with us all.
Congratulations to you and happy birthday to Granny! I’m so glad I found you on utube . I read your post every morning with my coffee. Love the way that I can read older blogs. You have a wonderful talent and make me remember things and learn new things. I feel so much a part of your family.
i guess that means i’ve been here pretty much since the beginning since my first trip to brasstown was christmas 2008! i didn’t yet know anybody there so i vividly remember you introducing yourself in the keith house parking lot, telling me you had a blog…
Congratulations on 17 years of sharing your love and passion for your Appalachia heritage and family. You remind us all that share the same Appalachia roots how wonderful our culture is every day. Thank you for celebrating Appalachia ways every day. May God continue to bless your family, and all your endeavors for many more years to come.
Happy 17 years of success, with many more successful years to come!
Congratulations! I’ve always heard that doing something you love makes it not seem like work (or something like that). I admire you for what you do. I’m sure other bloggers can learn from you. I barely knew what a blog was when our paths crossed at Ga Mt Storytelling several years ago but am so thankful we met. It is also the first thing I read daily and I wish you many more years of posting.
I don’t remember how I found you, but so glad that I did. It was in 2008. Even though I live in Florida now, I still love my raising in the foothills of Appalachia. At 6 a.m. when I hear a ding from my email, I smile because I know it’s TBPATA.
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO GRANNY and congratulations to you Tipper! I enjoy your blog and You Tube channel. Love the visits with Granny .
Happy Anniversary! I look forward to these posts each morning. A great way to start my day.
Congratulations Tipper. and happy birthday to BP & A. I found the “The Blind Pig and the Acorn” about one year ago. My husband and I had gotten rid of our cable tv because of the cost and lack of decent programming. We also purchased our first “smart phone” after resisting to do so for years because I hate using phones. My children had urged us to get one so they could text us. I spent over forty years on telephones for my job as a nurse and when I retired, I said, “no more phones.” We had a flip-top one and that was enough. But the flip-top one gave up the ghost and we couldn’t replace it, so I gave in and purchased a smart phone. I have used computers for over 32 years so learning how to use it wasn’t a problem. I soon learned that it was entertaining to be able to watch YouTube and the different stories–better than tv. I soon found your channel, “Celebrating Appalachia” and BP&A and began watching them. I have enjoyed them and your daughters’ channel “The Pressley Girls.” You and your family remind me so much of my own Appalachian family. Although I grew up in northeastern Ohio, when at home I lived in eastern Ky–Appalachia. Thank you for your dedication and making me feel like I’m part of your family.
happy birthday, blind pig and the acorn, happy birthday
Happy Birthday to The Blind Pig & the Acorn!! Finding your blog has been a blessing to me at a time in my when I was dealing with life problems. Your blog picked me up and made me happy again. I have learned so much about Appalachia, it’s beautiful country, people, language & history. I feel like if I ever were to be blessed to pass your way in Brasstown, I would feel right at home because of all you have taught me. I know all about the John C. Campbell Folk School, and wonderful people like Josh Griggs, etc. Tipper, thank you for the love & time you’ve put into BP&A. You & your family are loved by so many (including me)!
17 years. my husband and I bought our cabin in Mutphy over 20 years ago. a friend in our area in FL told me about your bl9g. I started following you soon after. I have laughed at your stories, was saddened by a few and learned a whole l9t about the area I made my home nearly 4 years ago now. thank you
Happy Birthday to Blind Pig! A wonderful trip to a wonderful place. Thank you Tipper!
Well here’s to another 17+ Happy Anniversary years to blindpigandtheacorn blog. I know I’ve enjoyed all the time I’ve been listening to you and watched your channel.
Congratulations Tipper! Thank you for sticking with it all these years and showing the young uns how it’s done. Wishing you continued success for years to come!
Congratulations, Tipper! You do such a lovely job here! One of your gifts is being a great
word-smith. I admire that! Bright blessings!
Happy 17th Birthday to Blind Pig and the Acorn. It is all such a wonderful accomplishment Tipper. It’s so neat that it also shares the birthday with your mother, even more special! A lot to celebrate this week… this month!
Happy Anniversary to Blind Pig and Acorn Tipper .
Happy birthday to the Blind Pig and the Acorn!!! It’s awesome what all you have shared and now your YouTube channel is doing so well! Congratulations!
Congratulations and happy birthday to Blind Pig and the Acorn!
What a great accomplishment to be doing this for that long. I’m so thankful I found you a few years ago now. God Bless!!!
Happy Birthday Granny. And congratulations Tipper on your enjoyable blogs that I always look forward to reading and am looking forward to many more.
I love these posts every morning! I wait for my Sugababy to get ready so I can take her to school, and read your posts. She turns 17 this year as well.
I live in North Georgia, sorry if I’ve mentioned it before, and you feel like family. I grew up here and I’ve never been out of the South. I’m not saying I wouldn’t visit other beautiful places around the USA but if I don’t I’ll be just fine. I love it here, I’m satisfied completely.
Kourtni, I am like you, in my 71 years of life in Greenville County, SC, I have never been farther from home than Grand Junction, Tenn.(Birddog Museum and Ames Plantation) and taking my wife by Loretta Lynn’s home on the way back to my uncle’s home in Chattanooga. In August of 1978, we spent a week camping with my sister in law and her husband in the Orlando area of Florida. When I crossed back into Georgia on the way back home I tried to drink the first water fountain I saw dry. Whenever we went to Chattanooga, I would go through Gainesville, Ga and then on across to I75 going in different routes from Gainesville. I once came back close to Tipper by coming back through Copperhill and northern Ga. My uncle drove a Trailways Bus out of Atlanta ( raised in Anderson county, SC) for about 35 years. He had been to all 48 states, parts of Mexico and Canada. He said he always loved getting back to the south. He would joke and say the only time he liked being up North was when he was watching it getting smaller and farther behind him in his rear view mirror. Ask me sometime what his definition was of “a crying shame.”
I sure wish I had found thr BPATA years ago! I’m planning a trip up the east coast and on the way back I’m going inland a bit. One of my stops will be the Folk School. I have to see your country!
I’m so glad Granny had a great birthday!
Thank you for The Blind Pig and the Acorn!
Linda-After the visit to the Folk School, eat at Julie’s restaurant in Peachtree! You won’t be disappointed.
Happy Birthday to your channel Tipper! It is such a treasure you share with us all. Thanks.
Tipper, reading the BP&A each morning is one of the first things I do each day. I have learned to go back to yesterday’s posting and get today’s posting before the 6 o’clock email. For many years I got up at 4:30 to go to work and still wake up around that time. My only regret is I didn’t know of it sooner. Like many have said the members now seem like friends and family. Many things you wrote or said in your first paragraph would be a pretty good description of me. Happy Birthday BP&A!