Every January I study on what I’d like to accomplish on the Blind Pig and The Acorn in the coming year. First and foremost I’d like to continue to celebrate and preserve my rich Appalachian culture and heritage. Come March I will have been blogging about Appalachia for 15 years, a length of time which is almost unheard of in the world of blogging.
Here’s the plans I had for 2022 and how things turned out.
- Publish more posts written by The Deer Hunter, Chatter, and Chitter. Since Paul manages our Blind Pig and The Acorn YouTube channel he writes a lot of music posts for me. Maybe the way to go on this one is to come up with some sort of regular feature for each of the others. I also hope to continue sharing guests posts with you. Although I shared a lot of guest posts I fell way short of sharing posts from my family other than Paul. I had this goal in 2021 too and did a much better job of accomplishing it that year.
- Although I’ve spent the last year making videos I hope to make even more during 2022. I have a list of folks I want to interview, tutorials I’d like to share, and even places I want to visit and share. I accomplished making more videos in 2022. I was able to highlight Appalachian culture, food, and history in the videos. I interviewed quite a few folks and did many tutorials, but I didn’t visit many places.
- I’m still blown away by being able to leave my full-time job during the year of 2021. Now my dream is for The Deer Hunter to be able to leave his too. Chitter says we’re starting a Pressley Empire, maybe she’s right 🙂 I’m still waking up every morning awed by God’s blessing of allowing me to make my living doing what I love! Although The Deer Hunter is still working his full-time job we made great progress on securing what we need for him to help me full-time.
- I plan to make several other eBooks. The turn around is pretty quick (if I can find the time to do it!) and it’s a great form of passive income. Once the book is completed all folks have to do is purchase it and download it. My eCookbook Favorite Recipes from Appalachia is still selling well, but I didn’t manage to make any other eBooks like I had hoped.
- Jim Casada and I are in the beginning stages of writing a cookbook you can hold in your hands 🙂 I’m excited for the progress we hope to make on the project during 2022. Jim Casada and I were able to finish our cookbook Celebrating Southern Appalachian Food – Recipes & Stories from Mountain Kitchens. It will be out in May 0f 2023.
- Our internet service is the best we have ever had, but it’s still not up to par for my online needs. During 2021 our area qualified for fiber optic internet. This fall they came out and flagged the path where they will lay it. Hopefully at some point during 2022 we will have stable high speed internet. Once that happens I hope to teach my Mountain Flavors Cooking Class online. Another thing we hope to do is offer live concerts that folks can attend virtually. Hip hip hooray!! We finally got high speed internet and it has made my online endeavors so much easier! I haven’t managed to do any online teaching or concerts, but now at least I’ve got what I need to make it happen when I’m ready.
Here’s my goals for 2023.
- I’m going to stubbornly try to get more guest posts from The Deer Hunter, Chatter, and Chitter. Hopefully I’ll regain all the progress I made on this one during 2021.
- I’ve fallen in love with telling stories and sharing information through video so filming more is high on my list for 2023. I enjoyed the interviews I did in 2022 so much that I hope to do many more this year. Another video I want to make is a long video of the flowing waters of Stamey Creek. Folks call those type of videos ASMR. Basically it means they can watch them as a way of relaxing or even putting themselves to sleep.
- Now that Jim and I have done the hard work on the cookbook I hope to find time to create those eBooks I was so hopeful about last year.
- Speaking of the new cookbook. Jim and I plan to get out and promote the book once it’s published. If you have a place you think would be a great match for a book signing or a meet and greet please leave a comment and share it. There’s no guarantee it will work for Jim and I but it might. Also please share any bookstores you think would be a good fit for selling the book.
- So many folks have told me they have a hard time finding the old almanac calendars in their area that I plan to sell them. More to come on this recent development very soon.
- As my full time job has become so entwined with my home life I’ve found goals drifting to things I would have never added to the Blind Pig & The Acorn goals before. One of them is to grow more food on this goat bluff that we live on. The Deer Hunter and I have a big dream of totally getting rid of our grass in exchange for more garden beds. We’ve made no progress on that goal yet, but I’m still hopeful we’ll inch our way towards it during 2023.
- Speaking of The Deer Hunter, it’s still a goal to have him working right alongside me full time. We made so much progress during 2022 that I’m hopeful 2023 will be the year it happens.
I couldn’t have any of the goals above if it weren’t for you. I appreciate you more than you will ever know.
I hope you will continue to visit Blind Pig and The Acorn during 2023. And if you know someone who might enjoy the blog or the videos, please send them my way.
Last nights video: A Year in Appalachia – 2022.
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Congratulations on your 15 blogging years, that is an awesome feat.
I enjoy your blog, utube channel and your girls’ utube channel so much. I live in a very rural setting. We don’t have a town but there is a definite mountain community that is strong. But when you live this lifestyle there’s a lot a work and not a lot of time for visiting. Especially in winter when we’re all struggling to plow snow and keep winter at bay the best we can. So being able to listen to y’all while I’m in the kitchen or ironing is just like have a favorite neighbor drop by and it is not so lonely.
Okay , I have to go get ready for church. Which we hold in an old Idaho Standard schoolhouse. In the early 70’s they started running buses out here to take the kids to school in town (an hour drive), that is when the schoolhouse was turned into a community center for our valley.
Blessings.
Happy “Old Christmas” (1/6/2023, Epiphany)! I just dropped by to read a while, with my cup of coffee nearby. Every few days, I stop by, to catch up on your articles and videos. The Lord’s blessings to your family and you, in the new year, as you serve Him! My wife (Mrs. Appalachian Irishman) and I are doing well enough, and we are pleased that y’all are also.
Good morning, Tipper, and thank you for all your efforts at preserving Appalachian heritage, history and folklore. You have many loyal followers, of which I am only one, but we all feel part of your extended family. You have enriched our lives and done us proud!
Have you considered various museums as an outlet for your cookbook? John Rice Irwin’s Museum in TN, the museum on the parkway in Asheville, Southern something (the name won’t come to me just now), and someone mentioned the Farmers’ Market in Asheville. Those are just a few. There’s a bookstore in downtown Asheville as well that would probably carry your book.
I join in others’ prayers that your plans for 2023 all come to fruition and that Matt will be able to retire from his job and join you full-time. God bless you and keep you and make His face to shine upon you.
Tipper you had a very successful year in 2022! I have no doubt you will be even more successful in meeting your goals in 2023.
Howdy, Tipper and all!
While it has been a long time since I was in the hills of southwestern NC, I recall that the Asheville Farmers Market (might have a different name) draws a lot of folks. Maybe you can strike a deal with one of the regular vendors there to include the cook book in their offerings. In fact there are probably a number of sites that draw a number of visitors that might be possible. For example, years ago, the Fryemont Inn had a little gift shop by the main desk that carried all sorts of local stuff. Dillsboro might have places too. Those and other places people stay might offer opportunities. I think it would be wonderful to get it on sale at the Grove Park Inn, for example.
I love your blog and utube videos!! I just wish I would have known about it sooner!! Thank you, Tipper and Family!!
As for bookstores I would totally recommend Read Spotted Newt in Hazard, KY and Wheatberry Books in Chillicothe, OH. I’m very excited for your cookbook and love watching your growth and progress!
Tipper, you are so blessed! I keep thinking back to your first few posts, hesitatingly dipping your toe in this blogging world. And now you are going for the synchronized swimming with Matt in the whole big blog pool! How exciting is that?!!! You have accomplished so much, and God has definitely been beside you the whole way! I can’t wait to see what this year brings for you! In my own life, I am excited about 2023. A lot of things have been “falling into place” over the last few months for me. I have been seeing a lot more clarity in answers to prayers concerning the direction I am headed. When we keep our focus on wanting the life God has in mind for us, using the passions and talents He made us with to serve Him, how can we not smile in our hearts, and on our faces, when we experience His guiding hand?! I am so happy for you that your dreams and prayers are being answered, too!!!
Donna. : )
Tipper, anything you do will be a blessing for this new year!! It was a blessing for me when I found your blog and I can’t tell you how much I have enjoyed it. All of your family are a joy to watch. I’ll be praying that the Deer Hunter can join you in 2023 on this wonderful journey. So proud of you!!!
Definitely do a cookbook meet & greet in Haywood county! Just about anywhere around here would be a good fit and y’all are already familiar with the area. Pick a spot and I’ll show up! Good luck with your 2023 goals, I’m sure they’ll be accomplished
Looking forward to 2023 with you. You are my breakfast read every morning! Take care and God bless ❣️
May God bless you and keep you Randy. I can’t imagine what you are going through.
Sounds like some wonderful goals Tipper! I look forward to them all and I sure hope that they happen in a big way for you all.
Miss Tipper, I can’t tell you what it means to me that I “found” y’all! I so love my southern heritage and ways of life. A lot of my families gone now and I feel sort of connected thru y’all. I love all of your videos especially the cooking ones. You remind me of my late Momma. You are more my age but you sound like her and even do various things like she did. It just warms my heart to hear you and see you cooking like Momma. Your list of goals are quite impressive. Thanks for taking us along for the ride. Best in 2023.
Tipper, reading all the plans you have and have had just wore me out! I had to light a moment for recovery. Lol My plans NEVER work out so I’m pulling for yours to- somebody’s has to! Lol You are a very busy family and I know you’ll succeed in whatever you put your mind to do!!! I wish you every success in this New Year and will be keeping you all in prayers and good thoughts! I can’t wait for an actual cookbook (from your hearty kitchen)I can hold in my hands and look at the pictures. Best of everything to the Pressley clan in 2023!!! My plans are simple. I have to enjoy the essence of being more. My garden plans are simplified this year. I’m going for flowers and a few veggies. I’m not a farmer and that’s just the way it is. Tomatoes, cukes, green peppers, squash from an old timer, green beans and lettuce is going to be the extent of my food garden. The rest will be hollyhocks (multi variety, always for mommy) bells of Ireland, lavender, butterfly bushes, spearmint, cat mint, peppermint, morning glory, moon flowers, some blackberry bushes, scarlet sage for my mommy, a grape vine, and begonias…can’t wait to plant and can’t wait to just see perennials popping up…
Tipper you say how much you appreciate us viewer/readers but it goes both ways for sure. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one here who looks as forward as I do every morning to my morning dose of blind pig and a new video (I save my Celebrating Appalachia till the evening after supper). It would be awesome if the deer hunter could do this full time with you all then he could get that grass out of there for more garden for sure. The only thing you didn’t mention that I would love to see is more granny, I just love her stories and what new things she is crocheting I bet if she made a bunch of those ornaments especially the little skier she could sell them and I’d be first in line! Me and granny are birthday buddies on march 6. Keep doing what y’all do it’s good medicine for us all. Thanks❤️
Blessed are those those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Matthew 5:4. Praying for you Randy. We enjoy the blog and YouTube. We also refer to the “ big light” and didn’t realize it. Thanks, Richard
Good morning Miss Tipper, I’m so happy for you that you have reached as many goals as you have in 2022 and know you will continue to reach the goals you have set for 2023!
I’m looking forward to watching & reading about each and every one of them.
Thank you for all you do for each one of us on here & your YouTube channel!
We all love & appreciate you & your family very much!!!!
You GO, girl!
I agree with Randy, the last one, of working along side your beloved Deer Hunter, is the one to key on! My husband and have bn married 39 yrs and both worked at the Post Office since the age of 18 (21 for him.) After 17 yrs at the PO we both had become Postmasters and we were able to help each other so much, having the same job. Then 10 yrs into that Postmaster job major change happened, he ended up having to go back to carrying mail and I was forced into managing 6 post offices. It was absolutely the hardest thing I ever did. But having my beloved Mailman by my side (knowing my job so well, even though he wasn’t in it anymore,) allowed him to support me in all my struggles, and bring us into retirement at 56 & 60yrs old. This first yr of retirement together has been the dream of a lifetime! Somehow we never tire of each other! I reckon it because we truly are one with each other. His dreams, are of the utmost importance to me, as mine are to him! I think that’s what we love the most about your blog and YouTube channel…..watching a beautiful marriage…… that shows so much love, support and gentleness……it’s just so rare! Definitely reminds me of the Mailman’s grandparents, who were our closest family members and our greatest inspiration. So my advise is, concentrate on getting the Deer Hunter by your side……May God continue to bless you beyond anything you could ever fathom!
I forgot, the only bookstore in Ellijay is a used bookstore, but we do have an amazing library. It would be wonderful if you could come here.
You have been truly blessed! Especially with computer wizardry. I am 75 and was almost your age before a computer was placed on my work desk. I am still not very good with them. Please, please continue your daily blog, it is like seeing an old, dear friend everyday. I really like your videos, but my old computer is way back in another room so I am unable to hear it while I do my daily chores throughout the house, and it is difficult for me to sit very long. I hope your dreams come true, especially with having Matt home. We couldn’t figure out how to do the same because of needing the pesky insurance benefits provided by the job. Thank you for all you do!!!God Bless!
tipper – your music and videos are great. keep doing what you are doing. i have made so many of your yummy recipes – my husband appreciates them too! i can’t wait for your recipe book to come out. The Lord bless your endeavors and may 2023 be the year matt can work with you daily.
I look forward to it. Have you thought about Clayton, GA and the Foxfire Museum? Blairsville, GA? Robbinsville?
So many exciting things coming to you, Matt, and the rest of your family. It’s going to be a fun ride with The Pressley’s, and we are all so glad to be able to see it happen.
Travel? I do hope you’ll consider a trip to the Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN. Happy to host you! People so enjoy good stories, good food and good music, don’t they?
Would love for you to come to Burnsville NC for a bookstore signing and definitely would love one of the cookbooks. We have a bookstore named Plott Hound Books and of course , the library. You cook the way my Mom and Grandma ( Mama Deyton) cooked. I try to follow some of the old ways. Keep up the great work you and family and friends are doing.
I don’t know how practical this idea is, but a good match for you, Jim and your subject would be some of the state parks in NC, SC, GA and TN such as in an indoor meeting room. And I’m sure you have thought about the Folk School as an excellent location. Ideal also would be any living history location; such as Rocky Mount, TN or the Tipton- Haynes House in TN (though I don’t think either has indoor room?). Maybe you could combine book signings with some of those places on your list to visit? The Jonesborough, TN location already mentioned would be a great place. The Visitor Center is a book store and more and has a separate historic schoolhouse that I think is available. Maybe the Visitor Center or the Heritage Center in Townsend, TN?
We were talking about the almanac calendars at church Wed. night and how hard they are to find. My Grandma kept them and wrote notes in the day squares through the years. Sure would like to have even one.
Randy, I can’t pretend to knowing what being half yourself feels like so I’m not going to try. We believers are called to be witnesses to truth and you are a witness that “charity never faileth” though that witness be through sorrow. The sorrow does not cancel the light of that truth.
Sorry, Randy, for your loss of a lifelong companion! It will take time to adjust, my thoughts and prayers are with you.
It looks like you made great progress with your goals Tipper. I think you are nothing short of amazing! Your progress in turning the whole yard into a garden IS happening, just slower that you would like!
I would love to see the Deer Hunter working there with you and I think it will happen soon, during this year! That’s what I am hoping for!
I’m so excited to 2023 and what you will share. I would like to expand my garden beds, too, and I learn so much from y’all. Thank you, and God bless!
Well I think you’re just getting started after 15 years. As I might have mentioned in other comments, I caught the Appalachian fever from meeting you and your family and been inspired to start my own blog along a similar theme, but different. It’s a whole 15 days old, ha ha, but it’s starting to make a few connections and draw some comments. I try to read your blog everyday. It has really inspired my creativity and to learn the technology. Thanks for being so open with your accomplishments and goals. Very helpful to see what you’re thinking about. I hope Matt can make the transition to full time soon. I’m always interested to see what he’s up to. He’s doing a great job as cohost.
So glad to see the goals you listed and the accomplishments made. Hopefully this will be the year that you are able to meet the remaining old and new goals! We really enjoy everything you do here on this blog and your videos. God is blessing you in mighty ways now and will continue to!
So happy for you! I hope one of your book signings can bring y’all to Davidson County (NC). I might have to see what strings I can pull.
The Tiger store in Hayesville would be ideal for your book. https://tigersandchinquapins.com/
I am so excited to see your future here and with whatever and where ever you take us. Can’t wait for your hard-cover book to be published. I do keep my eBook handy and refer back to it often. Please keep your ‘read’ on Fridays as it is a ‘memory stirer’ for both of us…like that word??? Can’t wait to see our future with Blind Pig and the Acorn. God Bless
I hope you are successful with everything you want to do. The very last one-work alongside of the Deer Hunter brought back memories for me. After many years of my wife and me not getting to spend much time together, we both were retired and were enjoying being together every day. We were so happy but we only got to enjoy it for 7 months before she died. There is very little joy or “want to” left in me. I know where she is and she is fine, it’s the ones left behind that suffer. Sorry for writing this this morning but I have been awake since 3 o’clock with her on my mind.
Randy-Don’t feel bad about writing it-I know you are still suffering. I’m so sorry. I pray for God to comfort you and give you peace. I can’t imagine how much you miss her!!
Prayers for you Randy, I can’t imagine what you’re feeling. Your wife most certainly was a special lady by the way you describe her and the love you have for her. Grieving is a hard process to go through, but that is due to the love you have for her.
God bless you brother. What you’ve shared from your heart is important and valid. I know you’re missing her very much. It’s okay to let people know. Praying for comfort, peace and healing for you.
Hello Randy, please know that we are praying for you my friend that GOD will grant you the comfort that you need to make it through each and every day. We are proud to call you family here on the blind pig!
We all love you.
Will be praying for you, Randy.
My prayers are with you, Randy. Grief knows no time limit. Your heart will always love and miss your wife, and that is perfectly normal and ok. You were blessed with a true love that escapes many other people. Over time, God will ease your heart and mind back into having joy again over other things in life, but you will never replace or lose the feelings you have for your wife. Remember, Jesus cried when Lazarus died, even though He knew He was going to bring him back to life shortly (John 11:1-45). God does supply us with a balm of comfort, and I know you are leaning on Him for that. I will keep you in my prayers.
Donna. : )
Randy. My brother lost his wife when she was 56. He passed in 2018 but I walked the journey with him when she died. He told me until you go through it, no one knows what it’s like. He said losing our parents was hard, but this was worse. I saw his grief and pain and I know you loved your wife because of all the wonderful things you have said about her these past months. The more you love someone, the more you grieve and we all one day will experience it. Just know we all are praying for you and praying for God’s loving arms to surround you and give you comfort.
Gloria, I didn’t think it could get worse than when I lost my daughter in 2012 but I didn’t know about losing your spouse. When you marry the two of you become one so when one dies a part of you also dies. As far as I know the Bible or nobody else says anything about what happens to the half that is left. If you compare it half of a tree dying the other half left will no longer be much good or will soon die too.