Tom and Betty-Lou Seager keep the faith of making things by hand

Some retired couples ride Harleys or play pickleball. Betty-Lou and Tom Seager of Lady Lake travel back in time together via a shaving bench and spinning wheel.

The old-timey tools are set up in the idyllic, lovingly landscaped backyard of the Seagers' home off Gray's Airport Road. Tom is a woodworker, and Betty-Lou is a spinner and weaver.

Over the years, the couple has traveled to historic events across the nation to demonstrate their crafts.

Their way of dress recall Florida pioneer days, an era that they will be celebrating with other crafters at Ocali Country Days this weekend. The annual two-day festival returns Nov. 11-12 at Silver River Museum in Ocala.

In their younger years, Tom operated heavy equipment but had to retire after a degenerative spinal disc condition became debilitating 11 years ago.

"My spine is collapsing — I'm 2 inches shorter now," Tom said with a chuckle to lighten the mood.

The enclave where the Seagers live was rural when they moved to Lady Lake in 1979, with neighbors spread far apart. Now it's clustered with suburban homes with two-car garages.

"We lived in a travel trailer in my parents' backyard on the other side of the lake for the first year we were here," Betty-Lou said.

"We moved our menagerie down here with us —two kids and dogs and cats."

Nowadays, they no longer have a dog but they do have two cats. Their grumpy-but-charming stubby-tailed cat Molly runs in and out of the house and doesn't pay any mind to the Seagers' chickens, hens and pigs. Inside, a senior parrot named Pete holds court. The couple found out after adopting Pete that he is a she. No matter, the name stuck.

Like their home, the Seagers have made their peace with the digital age, but they refuse to give up the soul-felt satisfaction that comes with making articles by hand.

When asked if her spinning wheel skills were handed down to her, Betty-Lou said no but they could have been.

"My great-great grandmother was a spinner and a weaver in New Hampshire," Betty-Lou recounted. She grew the flax, processed it spun and wove this towel (holding up an incredibly soft cloth). This is over a hundred years old."

Betty-Lou demonstrates her spinning as she would at Ocali Country Days or another heritage-themed festival.

"I'm spinning cotton," she said, "which would've been commonly used in this area. Although in the 1830s, which is the time period we represent, cotton fabric was readily available for purchase."

Tom shows how he shaves wooden staves to make old-fashioned churning buckets. "Ninety percent of my work I do right here," he said, maneuvering wood over his shaving bench.

"Each individual piece of the bucket is one stave. And each stave is shaped on the shaving bench with a draw knife. The piece goes underneath the head. My feet go on the pedals to lock it in place leaves both hands free to use a drawing. ... I have all the power tools that I need, and I can make a bucket better by hand than I can using power tools."

The couple has passed down their DIY work ethic to their two daughters, Tomi-Lyn and Barbara Sue. Barbara Sue and her family live "completely off the grid" in Kentucky. Tomi-Lynn is a little more contemporary and has been working for LassiterWare Insurance in Leesburg over the past few decades.

"As far as fixing and, and knowing how to use tools, I taught 'em that," Tom said of fathering two girls. "I wanted them to know, you gotta know how to do that stuff. So you know, if you aren't, make sure you're not being ripped off by someone that's working for you. You need to know a little bit about it so you can tell."

The couple met in their youth, next-door sweethearts. Betty-Lou's family had relocated to Vermont from New Hampshire. "They were tenants in my aunt's house," Tom explained. "They lived right across the backyard from us."

So, were they high school sweethearts? "More like junior high," Betty-Lou said with a laugh.

"We owned a house in Chittenden, Vermont, which is kind of straight up from Rutland on top of Mountain," Tom explained.

"It's not far from Killington. Mm-Hmm. where the big ski areas are," Betty-Lou added.

More: Remembering a late-great Leesburg Renaissance man

They moved to Florida after their daughters were born. The heat took some getting used to, but they enjoyed the peaceful countryside of North Central Florida.

The couple has been married for 51 years. What's their prescription for marital bliss? "We never leave each other without a kiss," Tom emphasized. "Especially if I leave with a vehicle, 'cause you never know when you're coming back. It might not be that day. You know, you may never come back."

Tom, who has an easy-going demeanor, adds that he doesn't like to argue or show his anger. He comes from a family that yelled at each other too often, and decided he wouldn't give into anger as an adult.

But Betty-Lou likes to bicker every now and then.

"He doesn't argue .... and that makes me angry," she said with a laugh.

Ocali Country Days takes place Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 11-12, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Silver River Museum, 1445 NE 58th Ave., Ocala. Admission is $8; children 5 and younger get in free. Visit silversprings.com for more information.

This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Tom and Betty-Lou Seager are the OG's when it comes to DIY