Magic Wineglass Tours

Category: smoky mountains

  • The Perfect Coffee Mug

    We leaned forward to listen, as one of the ladies prepared to tell us about her requirements for a Perfect Man.  He would be tall, she said, and employed.  Funny and smart go without saying.  She restricted his age to 35-43, and begging your pardon, he simply cannot be a democrat.  We sat back and laughed, and discretely surveyed the dining room.  Hey, you never know.

    So here I am this morning, preparing to tell you about my notion of the perfect coffee mug.  Like my friend’s ideal man, it must be taller than round.  It must also fit on my cup warmer.  Even though it takes me an hour in the morning to savor that first cuppa, I enjoy my coffee scaldingly hot, so a cup that fits on the warmer should have a flat bottom (I’ve no idea what my friend’s requirements are in that area) so that it will actually keep the coffee hot.  Most commercial cups, which bore me to tears, have a concave base that doesn’t make contact with the warmer, and I’m back at the microwave every few minutes.  That said, it really can’t be a commercial cup.  There are just too many really fine potters out there that can make a beautiful coffee mug, and these North Carolina mountains are right smack in the middle of clay heaven.

    A brief aside about our clay…  It’s so special that Wedgwood China imported it in the 1700s.  It was taken to port via the Indian Road (now I-26) to the port of Charleston and shipped to England.  Josiah Wedgwood pronounced it remarkable and called it Cherokee Clay.  There you are, a special nod to today being Earth Day.

    Back to the Perfect Mug.  It should have a pleasing appearance, that evokes some uplifting emotion.  It should feel wonderful – the handle should be easy to use, your thumb finding just the right place, and the rim should be thoughtfully crafted so you don’t get that aggravating drip down the side.  It should be exactly the right size to hold a bit more than a tea cup, but not so large that your coffee’s bound to cool.  It should invite you to lean back and wrap your hands around it on a chilly morning.  Decorative, certainly, but being decorative can’t outweigh function… like those silly handles your fingers won’t fit in, or square for the sake of being square, or squat, just in case that’s adorable.  Flared rims may be unusual, but that’s because they’re difficult to use.  As in architecture, form follows function.  And it should be hand-crafted.  I don’t want to ‘make do’.  I want to Enjoy.  I want to Savor.  I want to Appreciate -both the coffee and the mug it’s in.

    I’m just guessing that my friend would also like to find a man crafted here in these Smoky Mountains, with a pleasing appearance, who feels wonderful, and is just the right shape, who works flawlessly and is prepared to help her enjoy a cup of coffee every morning.  I hope she finds him.  I’ve found my mug.

    Here it is.

    Coffee by the Creek - New Timberwolf Creek mugs from Deneen Pottery

    Made in America.  By hand.

    In case you’re wondering, our mugs are handmade by the good folks at Deneen Pottery.  And the coffee that goes in them is Elida Estate, from Panama.  We’ll be happy to send you home with both.  Come enjoy your next cup on the porch by the stream, under these tall trees, at Timberwolf Creek.

    Loading

  • Springtime in the Smokies!

    Springtime in the Smokies!

    Spring has arrived – just look at the beautiful flowers!  All that work last fall sure paid off.  Here are the drama queens, the double Tahiti daffodils…

    And they are right at home with the single white daffodils with the orange ruffle, called Gentle Giants, the big fat double yellow Sherborns which have reached an impressive five-inches across, and the utterly charming white Mint Juleps (single white daffodil with the small yellow cup and green heart).  The scent of the hyacinth?  Divine!

    As assortment of daffodils
    Narcissi Gentle Giant, Sherborne, Mint Julep, and Tahiti

    Loading

  • A breakfast basket for two, discretely delivered to your door…

    Our wedding couple opted for a breakfast basket this morning, which they said they’ll enjoy in their bathrobes in front of the fireplace. What a perfect spring morning to do so! And the lemon mousse came out perfectly, if I do say so myself. Larry just returned from Florida and brought me Plant City strawberries from the strawberry festival there, and the sweet red berries were the perfect topping for the mousse. Herbed mushroom eggs, sage sausage, apple and pomegranate juices, and the best thing… Last night, I baked them some 7-grain bread with wheat berries and bulgar, and coriander seeds I harvested and dried from the last of the cilantro. Crushing the coriander with a mortar and pestle just made me feel sooooo Suzie Homemaker, and made my kitchen smell heavenly! The bread? Divine. I tucked a little bowl of my peach butter in the basket, too.

    (ACK! I just saw the typo in the menu! I typed ‘cardomom’ instead of ‘coriander’. What was I thinking??!? Ah, those late-night creations. Good grief. Well. The bread’s good, and hopefully that’s enough. !!)

    Loading

  • Nothing says autumn like October in the Smokies

    Nothing says autumn like October in the Smokies

    Nothing says autumn like October in the Great Smoky Mountains.  This is my favorite poem, written in the 1800s by Helen Hunt Jackson.  The photo was taken yesterday in front of Timberwolf Creek Bed & Breakfast.  Now, that’s some front yard!

    October’s Bright Blue Weather

    O SUNS and skies and clouds of June,
    And flowers of June together,
    Ye cannot rival for one hour
    October’s bright blue weather;

    When loud the bumble-bee makes haste,
    Belated, thriftless vagrant,
    And Golden-Rod is dying fast,
    And lanes with grapes are fragrant;

    When Gentians roll their fringes tight
    To save them for the morning,
    And chestnuts fall from satin burrs
    Without a sound of warning;

    When on the ground red apples lie
    In piles like jewels shining,
    And redder still on old stone walls
    Are leaves of woodbine twining;

    When all the lovely wayside things
    Their white-winged seeds are sowing,
    And in the fields, still green and fair,
    Late aftermaths are growing;

    When springs run low, and on the brooks,
    In idle golden freighting,
    Bright leaves sink noiseless in the hush
    Of woods, for winter waiting;

    When comrades seek sweet country haunts,
    By twos and twos together,
    And count like misers, hour by hour,
    October’s bright blue weather.

    O suns and skies and flowers of June,
    Count all your boasts together,
    Love loveth best of all the year
    October’s bright blue weather.

    Loading

  • A Day in the Life of The Wedding Fairygodmother

    A Day in the Life of The Wedding Fairygodmother

    The bride asked for an autumn bouquet – she was pretty happy about it!  She had asked to include light orange roses – I was tickled to be able to find some…  Although I almost bought the deep orange ones at the florist, just because they were so pretty, ha!

    Today we had breakfast for four, then it was time to clear the dining room, clean the kitchen, and set the table for a wedding reception.  I picked up the cake and bought flowers yesterday, so I was making the bouquet and boutonniere while Rhonda the Wedding Fairy was clipping and washing ivy leaves to trim out the cake.

    We were getting the cameras ready and Nick was finishing up the kitchen and setting up the massage table for guests in the Curve of the Creek Suite, who had reserved the Splendid Indulgence package.

    Rhonda set the table outside for the mini-reception while I printed up the wedding vows and marriage certificate and got dressed for the wedding.  I brought the flowers over and we started photographing the table.

    …and getting all those pretty ‘artsy’ shots I like so much…

    Finally the groom appeared, I pinned on his boutonniere and took the bouquet to the bride in the Timberwolf Retreat.  She had broken the strap on her dress and was sewing!  Got her into her wedding gown and off we went –a very nice couple and a second wedding for both.

    Meanwhile, we were taking pictures and the massage therapist arrived to give massages to our Curve of the Creek Suite couple.  Rhonda packed up the wedding cake and champagne flutes and all the paperwork and delivered it to the wedding couple’s suite while we were doing the photo shoot.  The masseuse finished the first massage and Rhonda changed out the linens to get ready for ’round two’.  We finished the pictures, gathered the ‘debris’ to take back to my house, and off we went – just in time for the masseuse to finish the second massage.  So, we put away the massage table and presented the dinner package.  The Wedding Fairy worked hard, I can tell you.  Oh!  I forgot!  In the middle of all this, guests arrived to check into the Woodland Room.  Rhonda the Wedding Fairy got them started while I was finished up with the bride and groom, getting them their dinner certificate and a map to get to the restaurant.  Then I schmoozed a while with the new arrivals while Rhonda ran over and opened up their room and gift-wrapped their keepsake mugs and hurried over to get the gift into the room before the guests meandered on back to the Woodland Room.  Then she went home.

    Probably to have a nap.

    Meanwhile, I went back home and grabbed a sandwich.  I made some chocolate covered strawberries and walked back to the Creek House to turn down the Timberwolf Retreat with our Signature Silver Turndown Service and the strawberries and a nice card from the groom’s parents.

    Then you’d better believe I came home to put on my PAJAMAS.  When I got back home, I had to sit down and write this note to the groom’s sister, who arranged for those chocolate dipped berries:

    “Dear Donna,  this is all your fault.  I can’t stop eating these damn strawberries.  It’s a good thing I already did the silver turndown with Alan & Dana’s berries before tasting them, or I’d be saying, “oh, they won’t miss just one more… ”  Gorgeous berries so sweet they didn’t even need the candy, I dipped them in Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate (heaven help us) and topped each with a white chocolate ‘button’.  Then dusted my grandmother’s pink crystal footed cake plate with powdered sugar, arranged the strawberries and ringed it all with baby’s breath.  Three white daisies (same as used in the bride’s bouquet) and voila’.   They probably won’t even notice the truffles (which are from the Chocolate Bear, which carries truly marvelous chocolates).  I am certain, however, that they will notice the champagne.  🙂  ”

    Of course, I was busily cleaning chocolate off the keyboard (since I couldn’t stop nibbling on the strawberries).  That’s Donna’s fault, too.

    Have been busy with paperwork ever since, but now Larry’s come into the living room while I was typing this, and put on a movie, so I’m going to go pour a glass of wine and join him.

    My day!
    Y-A-W-N!!!!!!!

    Sandee

    Loading