A Tour of West Jefferson

With Tropical Storm Hanna paying a visit to Raleigh last weekend, we headed for the hills- Ashe County, North Carolina, where we have a little cabin and a family homestead. The weather was gorgeous, breezy, and mostly sunny up there! All we got was a little shower on Saturday night. At home, we got several inches of much-needed rain, but no power outage or damage. Perfect!

I thought I might take you on a little sight-seeing tour of West Jefferson, the little town where we shop for our groceries, home improvement items, and everything else when we are in the mountains. Usually we eat breakfast at the local Laurel Springs cafe, a sort of Cheers place where everyone knows your name. This time Charlie and I went to Sweet Aromas Bakery and Cafe in Jefferson on Friday morning, but were too late for breakfast. We got muffins instead, and came back on Saturday morning with my sister for blueberry pancakes. Sweet Aromas has a painted quilt on the wall, along with a terraced garden with inviting benches and lots of herbs, flowers, and birdhouses.When a town is in a beautiful setting like the Appalachian Mountains, even the most mundane businesses have a gorgeous view. Here is the parking lot at Ingoll's Grocery Store. Not bad!We rode into downtown West Jefferson for some errands.
I strolled through the Ashe County Park below the public library. It is a nice place to sit and read or have a picnic. They have started an art collection, including a nice plaque and sculpture.
When we were in the mountains last weekend, we dug big holes to plant some apple trees. Friday morning we picked them up. Remember my quilt, The Green Man, from my last post? Here is my own personal Green Man driving home with four apple trees in our Suburu.

Here is the Ashe County Civic Center, with Mount Jefferson in the background.

Downtown West Jefferson has become a mecca for the arts. There are quite a few galleries and local artists. Many of the old brick buildings have been painted with colorful murals.


There was a lot of work going on to clear the land behind the pond and along the creek for a big party we are having for my father's 85th birthday on September 20. There was a lot of power equipment and chain saw activity, and a big bonfire from all the trees they dragged out. The trees had been dropped by the power company and by a team of beavers, who had dammed up the creek and made a big mess of it. Then the storms came along, the dam broke up, and the beavers went elsewhere.
Now it looks great, and the creek is flowing freely again. The pond has filled again after the rains from Tropical Storms Fay and Gustave a couple weeks ago. The wild flowers are in profusion along the banks.

The woods are still predominantly green, as is this nice big sentinel tree. But changes are coming...