North Carolina has an abundance of artisnal cheesemakers, and we have two within an hour’s drive that you can easily visit during your stay with us. Out past Cherokee, is Yellow Branch Farm. They have both cheese and pottery tours (feel free to bring me a piece with that exquisite blue glaze). And stop on the way back to tube down Deep Creek in Bryson City, or take the seven-mile loop hike and see the waterfalls.
Heading east past Asheville, you can tour both Looking Glass Creamery (makers of my all-time favorite chocolate lab cheese) and, if you’re feeling adventurous, continue out to Hickory Nut Gap Farm for you-pick berries and apples to perfect your tailgate picnic. Of course, there are a bazillion little spots to recommend in nearby Asheville, but that’s a post for another day.
Not looking for a day trip, but still want all that fabulous artisnal cheese? No problem! Pop over to Waynesville (ten minutes away) and head down to the Montgomery Street Market for lots and lots of locally made yummies, in addition to all that cheese.
Or just laze away an afternoon upstairs at the Frog’s Leap Public House, with a lovely glass of wine, and a small-plate of local cheese. They usually have four or five… and I usually tell them to put everything on a platter and bring it to me… Now *that* is a fabulous lunch!
Ok, maybe you can help. I’ve spent endless hours on Google, trying to identify my hostas. These are the ones I have in abundance, planted in the outdoor wedding chapel gardens… but there are others… I’ve learned more about hostas than I ever dreamed there was to know! Margins and leaf shapes and textures, etc. The variety is astounding. I had no idea! And while discovering that there are something like 10,000 different hostas out there, it came as no great surprise that they are lilies. Because, after all, I do love lilies. (And yes, I know: they’ve been reclassified but I don’t care. They are lilies for me, and that’s a Good Thing, as Martha likes to say.)
I’ve done my best, with names, and invite you to correct me. If there’s a searchable database, where I can enter “hosta, small, narrow leaf, tri-color, wide green margin, white center” that would be fantastic. The best search result has yielded “Fire & Ice” but I’m not convinced what this one is…
But it sure is pretty. 🙂
The next one may be right on target, but again, your assistance is welcome! It appears to be Diamond Tiara, which is ok by me.
And these are just ENORMOUS and fabulous and propagating like mad. Not that they’re sending out runners or anything, just that we started with three and are up to 15! Each one just as impressive at the original.
I think this one’s called Niagara Falls. It truly is amazing. Here is the row of seven, just a couple of days after they were all split. And they are already gorgeous, and look like they’ll need to be split again in the spring!
See what I mean? Fantastic! (This is the driveway to the Black Bear Cottage in the Woods – where we have the Streamsong and Woodland rooms.) The plants have been remarkably forgiving. And where I’m concerned, that’s a Good Thing, as Martha likes to say.
And finally, I have this gold-margined beauty, that’s really come into her own this year. Just couldn’t be prettier. Somebody, let me know her name!
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.
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.
So, the groom had a whole section of the vows that he was going to recite
to his new almost-four-year-old stepdaughter.
He gave her a little ring.
Then he got down on one knee to make his promises.
“I promise to always to treat you
with love and respect.
I promise to foster
my relationship with you
and always be there for you
in any way I can.
I promise to support you
in your relationship
with both your mother and father
and I promise always to listen.
I also promise always
to treat your mom with love and respect
and model for you
a healthy, loving and supportive relationship
with the belief that one day
you too will find
such happiness in love.”
So you know, I’m fine with all that. Except that, as soon
as he got down on one knee, she gave him a kiss
and then threw her arms around his neck
…and stayed there!
He read the whole thing with her giving him a big hug.
Just about the sweetest thing ever. It was all I could do
to ‘feed’ him his lines without crying.
