Happy Father's Day

A more personal note... 

Father's Day wishes go to my sons, Marty and Russ, who have fathered 6 children between them. Thanks for making me a grandmother!

Marty

Russ

Marty 

 

And to the fathers of my sons, Doug and David, thank you for these great 3 men.   

Doug

Barb and Tai

George Rogers with his grandchildren:
 l to r. Marty, Barb holding Tai, Russ, Dad (behind,) 
Lisa and Zach (my sister's children)

My only grandfather I knew, George Rogers, Sr.

Saturday mornings

This pictures says it all.  On the aisle to your left, find eggs, tomato plants, jewelry, honey, pottery, various green produce, organic all...meats (refrigerated of course), cheesecakes, quiches which can be heated up (including gluten free), books and authors selling them, children's crafts with children selling them, and goat cheese, I am pretty sure.

And when you stand in this place, the music is right next to you.  Free to enjoy in the beautiful grounds of the Black Mountain Tailgate Market.  (Incidentally, the woman above in the cowgirl hat is really a motorcycle mama with a pocket dog she's carrying around.)

The other aisle has baked goods, roasted nuts, Dynamite coffee, organic cleaning products, soaps, chocolates, natural tinctures, hand woven goods, and probably a lot I've forgotten.

Directions to get here?  Off I-40 into Black Mountain, going north...past US-70 State street intersection, north another long block past a bank and the Baptist Church on your right, turn into various parking lots... and then walk into this lovely experience.

Bring your pocket-book or wallet.  These local people need to be supported by you!

Last chapter on Louise's

 The great corner table on the porch.

You walk through one of two dining rooms to the order counter, and chose just what you want short-order. 

 Always someone goes to that corner table!

They are on Face Book also, and would appreciate a "like" if you wish  www.facebook.com/louisesblackmtn
Their address is 115 Black Mountain Ave, and email is louiseskitch@gmail.com

PS, I don't ever endorse any of the places I chose to share with you. 
 

More on Louise's

I was waiting for my friend, and told the staff that I would wait to order when H. arrived.  Meanwhile I went around taking a few photos.  And sure enough, a staff member said, here's H. when she walked up. 

So now H. is known by name if she hadn't been before.

A great old house on a corner lot in downtown Black Mountain, with trees shading it too.  Many of the arts & crafts fairs are held in the streets right out front. 

Self service coffee and tea on the left, but refills are brought to your table.

Local strawberries are for sale in their back yard (not grown there though).  I liked looking in the back as well and noticing this old building even has a basement.


More and final chapter on Louise's tomorrow...

Where everybody knows your name

OK, that song's lyrics have been buzzing in my head for days.  First a week ago someone read the lyrics to a discussion group, and I'm not sure she knew they came from the TV show "Cheers."  Probably she did, as this 80-something woman knows a lot.

Another friend described Louise's Restaurant in about the same terms...a place where you always feel welcome and can just hang out.  Not that they know her name.  I found out by being tricky.

More on this restaurant and my visit tomorrow...

White flowers

It's been raining for 2 days and about to start again...thanks to a tropical storm Andrea, the first of our season.  So this lovely white rose may smell good, but the wilted flowers haven't fallen away as they should if they were dry.

The Japanese Dogwood is blooming profusely, much later than our local wild dogwoods.

A good landscaping design lets the OM Sanctuary of Asheville have a beautiful garden which was beautifully designed and is being refurbished.  I've mentioned it before in my posts about the Choir singing there for the ribbon cutting.

White Squirrels

Come on down (up?) to Brevard, NC.  It's not only the town with white squirrels, who naturally wander through the trees and don't seem to interbreed with those grey ones, but who have a very interesting tall tail tale (sorry, couldn't resist) as to how they came to be in Brevard.

I'll tell you a bit...something about they escaped from a side show of a carnival.  Real breed, which is not albino form of grey squirrel, (no red eyes like white bunnies).

You'll have to go to Brevard for more fun.  And it's also the gateway to some fabulous waterfalls.  (Here's a link in case you think I'm kidding!)  http://www.visitwaterfalls.com/

 Here I sat in front of a lovely little shop in Brevard, the shop being the "White Squirrel." (and no, that's definitely a bunny, not a stuffed squirrel, but there are lots of them in that store.)

Pearson Mansion

A nice easy climb up a meandering walk to the former site of the Pearson Mansion.  There used to be a stream with water features along the path to the right.  The rock beds are still there, but slightly overgrown.

This is the site of the former mansion.  It had been an Inn before an arsonist set fire to it.  I met a man looking at this swale of grass, and he said the bricks on the far side were the original back wall, this was where the front entrance was, and he had worked here when it was the Richmond Hill Inn when he was much younger.

So much of the grounds and other buildings have been renovated, creating a beautiful place for retreats at OM Sanctuary, a not-for-profit Healthy Life Style center. (See their web page at www.OMSanctuary.org.

 

Historic view of Richmond Hill House
Photo courtesy of North Carolina Collection, 

Pack Memorial Public Library,

 Asheville, North Carolina

For more information about the changes of the Richmond Hill Inn and plans for OM Sanctuary you can read a 2011 article here.

OM Sanctuary

Beautiful gardens for a beautiful spa and sanctuary...The Om Sanctuary.  For their information go Here.

Our women's choir was invited to perform for the ribbon cutting ceremony.

I

This portion of waterfall was behind our "stage."

We are about ready to begin at this point.

The Japanese Dogwood framed our view of the garden and the Sanctuary Pavillion.

I'll post more pictures of the garden and the event on my other blog: Alchemy of Clay 
http://blackmtnbarb.blogspot.com/2013/06/choir-ribbon-cutting-etc.html 
Come on over and see what else my camera captured! 

The dam

Lots of folks in Black Mountain believe in living in a more "natural way" than they used to, back in the cities, or whenever they visit the structures which show great engineering feats.

Here's a slightly more natural kind of dam...earthen that is, rather than concrete.  It does have engineering proclaimed through a sluice gear which can be opened whenever there's flooding upstream in the mountains.  It allows the lake to be drained quite a bit if needed.

There's the control valve.