The pool is open!

It opened Sat. before Memorial Day.  After all our brisk nights lately, only the brave are getting wet.

And you know I'm sending this post as a Friday Fences contribution!  Come see some prettier ones there!

Summer Concert series June-Aug

Living in Black Mountain brings lots of perks.

The summer concerts are free, usually excellent music, and there's at least one vendor who sells some kind of food before it starts.

Whether you sit on a blanket or bring one of those fabulous folding chairs, it's warm, twilight goes on for hours, and you may meet a friend or two.  Parking is limited, but if you can walk a block, not impossible.  (Incidentally, the lake is on the other side of the blue tented stage.)

Here's the lineup for this summer!

Beginning June 20, every Thursday evening from

7 p.m. - 9 p.m. on beautiful Lake Tomahawk, we'll offer an awesome evening of entertainment. 

  

June 20  Kellin Watson.  

A nationally-touring singer-songwriter, whose award-winning sound blends elements of blues, pop, folk, and soul, Kellin hails from Asheville.  Drawing on her Appalachian roots, she brings both power and rawness to her music. Hedrick Industries is the sole sponsor of this show.

June 27  Mipso.  

Rooted in the music of North Carolina's mountains and Piedmont, Chapel Hill-based Mipso gives these traditional influences a distinctly modern twist. With an old-school combination of fiddle, mandolin, bass, guitar, and four voices in close harmony, Mipso's Jacob, Wood, Joseph, and Libby mix bluegrass ingredients with a healthy dose of 21st century energy. 

July 11  Citizen Band Radio.  

Citizens Band Radio is not a nostalgia band - they are the good ole days.  With pedal steel guitars, mandolin and drums, harnessed together they light up the night with powerful harmonies, homegrown tunes, and positivity. CBR is a good time band, and they are serious about it - serious about making their fans happy, keeping them smiling, dancing, moving! 

July 18  Barefoot Movement.  

The Barefoot Movement is a quartet of immensely talented musicians from North & South Carolina and Tennessee whose music successfully melds Americana influences with the invigoration of acoustic modern rock and jazz. Their sound simultaneously captures the rustic beauty of old Southern front porch Bluegrass improvisation while being immediately accessible to the modern era.

July 25  Packway Handle Band.

This alternative bluegrass band emerged from the music scene in Athens, GA, finding national acclaim first as finalists at the Telluride bluegrass competition in 2002 and 2003, then taking 2nd place in 2004. In early 2006 the band went on the road full time, wowing audiences across the country with close 4-part harmonies and their dance around two tightly-spaced condenser mics.  Thought provoking songwriting, clever choice and arrangement of bluegrass traditionals, and totally unexpected (even totally inappropriate) covers, are all delivered with a crackling energy. 

August 1 Cedric Burnside Project.

Cedric Burnside is the grandson of North Mississippi blues legend R.L. Burnside. He is the winner of the Blues Music Awards "Best New Artist Debut" for the record: 'The Two Man Wrecking Crew' in 2009 and "Drummer of the Year" in 2010. After many successful years of touring the world with Lightnin' Malcolm as 'the Juke Joint Duo', Cedric has started a new band: The Cedric Burnside Project. His first debut album 'The Way I am' is coming soon, and he is touring the country bringing you new, original foot-stomping hill-country blues music.

August 8  A Social Function.  

Based out of Asheville, this popular Top 40 and dance band has entertained thousands and traveled all over the southeast, becoming one of the most sought after party bands.

August 15  Swayback Sisters.  

An all-female, close harmony trio based out of Asheville, NC, the Swayback Sisters specialize in old-school country soul, Appalachian-style folk ballads, and dirty acoustic blues.  Drawing heavily on the music that came before, and they pay loving homage to musicians such as Memphis Minnie, Ola Belle Reed, and Bessie Smith, to name a few. Their shows bridge the past with the future, with one foot firmly planted in the here and now.

 
For more information, please contact

Deanna Stone (828) 669-8610

deanna.stone@townofblackmountain.org

Wheels remains

These were BIG wagon wheels.
Makes you think about all the time before "tires" that people transported things using wagons...and how very bumpy the rides must have been too!

The three don't all go to the same wagon.  They hang outside the Swannanoa Valley Museum, on the wall of the building which houses the Black Mountain Center for the Arts and the Museum.  The walkway leads also to the Dripolator Coffee Shop.  So I walk past these wheel rims frequently.

Celebrating bounty

I haven't checked to see if this first tomato will turn big or just ripen into a cherry tomato.  I did keep all the labels on each plant.  I'm so excited, I had to share it here!

And here are some of the other bountiful gifts from nature in my garden. 

Sharing those broccoli leaves with some critters...

Some of the basil looks ok, some of it is really struggling

And the cilantro is bolting into becoming coriander...I've cut it back hoping it will still give those luscious tasty leaves, and moved it into a shadier location.  The advantage of container gardening!

Take a Hike is a popular store right downtown in Black Mountain, where you can get your hike started with lots of gear.  I usually drop in on their sales days - all kinds of name brands here!
For the visitor, it will be on the left side just after you cross the railroad tracks coming from I-40.

Reflection and restaurant

What wonderful reflections can be seen here! Weekend Reflections.

My local reflection isn't anywhere near as exciting as London.  But it's pretty to me and I wanted to share it with you.

 Yes, a self portrait, taken about 2 years ago.  Not much different looking.  It is reflection of a lovely dining room in the Jarrett House in Dillsboro, NC.  My friends Pat and Michael said this was the place to eat in Dillsboro.  So we went there, and it is a family restaurant, where everyone eats the same huge menu of sides, but choses one of 5 (I think) meat dishes.  We all were delighted!   (Incidentally, I love having 2-3 pairs of glasses hanging around for whatever needs I might have to focus upon!)

With a holiday weekend here (Memorial Day) we have lots of traffic already hitting the area.  I'm thrilled and hope lots of folks come out for the TailGate Market in Black Mountain from 9-12 on Sat.  (So I'm posting this a little early, just in case you might wish to make plans!)

Recycled Building

Right downtown in Black Mountain is one of the remaining gas-station-turned-commercial venture.  The Hour Glass Cleaners have revamped an old gas station pretty effectively.  And also in the parking lot is one of those bank kiosks to get your money (also known as an ATM).

Quote for the Day:

A problem is a chance for you to do your best.

Duke Ellington

Going to send this to Friday Fences this week HERE., since there's that interesting banister going into the entrance.  You barely notice it, but someone cared enough about people's arms full of clothes that they'd have guidance on the steps.  

Christmount

Entrance to Christmount Conference center on Hwy 9.

Town of Chimney Rock

Town of Chimney Rock as seen from overlook

Stone store building

This interesting decoration (the colorful stacked spheres on the side view here) on a stone building is part of a huge furniture store that takes up most of a block in downtown (those signal lights are at the main intersection of US 70 and US 9).  The colorful spheres are on the street side. 

Quote of the day:

Your life is always working, whether you know it or not. Sometimes it works to bring you what you want, and sometimes it works to keep you from what you think you want.  Neale Donald Walsch,  Tomorrow's God

A Rose is a Rose

I bet you thought I'd have beautiful pictures of roses here.

How about our local post office as a very different combo?

Our people depend upon it, and it's doing a good job of keeping us in touch with paper mail (as opposed to the e kind)

Like lots of small towns, a lot of us get our home delivery daily in a smaller mailbox out by the street, and if we're lazy can just put up a flag to have mail picked up there...or we can come drop it here, or go inside and put it in a slot in the wall in the lobby which is always open.

This building has really been here a while, but the way buildings were styled in the 60s, it doesn't look like what we think of as antiques.  Hey, my high school graduation was in 1960, so that can't be antique!  In a few days my grandson will graduate from high school.

You can tell that my mind is beginning to wander.  From roses to high school!

butterfly shadows

A sunny day with puddles from recent rain are great to attract the Swallowtails for some salts in the mud.

Great looking azaleas frame this home's view of Lake Tomahawk.

Warmer weather means more people get their exercise walking around the lake.

Simple beauty

Friday Fences

On my lake walk earlier this week, I spotted a couple of fences, after already seeing the lovely flowers.

And those lovely greens reflected in the water with the blue sky, hey, I'm giong to send this to Weekend Reflections.  Go over there to see some lovely shots from all over the world!

So I'm trying to add this post to the meme of the same name (if my screen ever stops jumping around, blogger and I are having issues this morning!)

When art pops up anywhere

Art along the road

A pump house has nice floral decorations.

More creekside cascades

From the parkway this is what you are enticed to see.

I was glad that no hikers had parked along the road, so I could approach it and see more with each step.

But the hike up along the creek starts with a nice flow of mud and leaves where seepage has decided to create another stream-bed.  The water enters the hiking area where the stone with a short angled stick probed into the wet ground can be seen at the top of the mud.

Creekside on the Parkway

Spring cascade by the parkway.

Just before Tanbark Tunnel.

Looking down as the cascade approaches the parkway, you can see the culvert which it disappears into (look to the right).

The opposite side of the parkway has trails, but no creek.

Maybe 40 feet below the level of the road, you can hear the water, and barely see it through the laurels.  And this is with winter's lack of foliage on the trees.

Clay studio and bas relief wall

Black Mountain Center for the Arts Clay Studio

A popular camera view for tourists, and it's lit very nicely at night also

This bas relief wall was designed by David Sais

2 Skutt electric kilns for the potters' work

Another riot of color

So maybe you're getting tired of all my floral photos.  Don't despair, I'll be showing pictures of my neighborhood where you'll maybe visit soon!

Quote of the day:

Nothing is a waste of time if you use your experience wisely.

Auguste Rodin,1840-1917