Mountains and Crafts

Charlie and I went back to our mountain place this weekend.  We had a much smaller crowd- just the two of us, our neighbors Ricky and Mary, and their two grandsons.  Very quiet!  Saturday was rainy, so we went to the Northwest Trading Post on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Glendale Springs.  They had some nice quilts, like the dramatic red and white stars above, and the red and blue floral quilt below.

This hydrangea fabric quilt is being sold as a fundraiser by the Ashe County Piecemakers Guild.  They are asking $750.00.  I am so sorry that I will miss their annual show in Jefferson Station next weekend.

In addition to the quilts, there were split oak baskets

some floral brooches that had an actual stem from nature

some colorful aprons

and lots more.  I bought my first Christmas gifts, as well as some banana-walnut bread that we enjoyed for breakfast this morning.

On the way back to Laurel Springs, we had some spectacular views of Mt. Jefferson shrouded in clouds (this shot is just above Ashe County High School...wouldn't you love to go to school with such magnificent beauty right out your window?)

The clouds were right over the fields

and continued all the way home to our turn-off at the Upper Mountain Research farm.

Sunday morning dawned bright and sunny, with a crisp autumn feel to the air and a nice breeze.

We were dismayed to find that a giant oak tree near the bridge over our creek had come down during the night.  This tree had a bent trunk that formed almost a bench that you could sit several kids atop.  There was a hollow place in the trunk that I always peered in to see if there was a small animal inside.  When we used to camp down by the creek, the tree was kind of scary because it looked like a man with giant arms.  When I gave my husband one of those tree faces for Christmas, he climbed on a tall ladder and mounted the face on this tree.  Then it really looked like a man!

This is what was left of the tree this morning.

You could see right through the hollow in the stump.

Fortunately, it fell into the creek, and not across our driveway.

I have taken pictures of the dam from our bridge countless times, but this was all you could see from the bridge this morning.

Before we left, Ricky had pulled the tree out of the creek with his backhoe, and onto the grassy field for the neighbors to cut up for firewood.  We are sad to see it go.