SCOUTING A DRIVE

'The husband' and I scouted an upcoming drive & social distancing picnic for our local car club.  This one will be strictly for SUV's.  All our drives are scouted (often more than once) for fun driving roads, map making, mileage points between areas we may stop, bathroom facilities, parking for 15 cars, and restaurant (now picnic) accommodations.  We are restricted to 15 car groups for each outing following the regulations of the national PCA Association guide.  Covid too has challenged the planning but hasn't dampened the interest.  Sign ups for drives are usually filled in hours, not days.

We first learned about Wayah Bald from our UPS delivery man whose Grandfather was one of the Rangers, who with his wife, lived and work there for many years. It's an out of the way popular destination that is not unknown to out of town visitors. 

 The access road is gravel with lots of ruts and often very narrow, a challenge when meeting a car coming from the opposite direction!  Plan to drive no more than about 10 mph for 15-20 minutes just to reach the parking area at the top.  SUV recommended.

Someone left a walking stick leaning against the sign for another visitor to use.

 Hopefully if you click on these two photos you will be able to read the information.  Here's a link to read more about Wayah Bald.

 The tower has undergone restoration over the years, allowing a safe passage to view at the top.

 My photos simply do not do justice to the uninterrupted long range view, but you get the idea.

The vistas are breathtaking.  The elevation is over 5,300 feet so fog can be an issue, luckily it was beautiful the morning we visited.

SUMMER RAINS

The weather pattern this summer is nearly identical to the very first one we experienced after moving here in the spring of 2006.  It rains every afternoon for about an hour!  Due to the welcome moisture & thanks to the constant work by 'the husband', our planting areas on our 2+ acres are beautiful.

View from our upper driveway

Small display on our back deck

SMOKY MOUNTAINS

As mentioned in the past, we live in a beautiful small mountain valley located in Western North Carolina.  There's a reason this area is referred to as the Smoky Mountains.

The first two photos are taken from our front deck.  The third from our back deck.  The final photos were taken while driving home on the road that winds through our valley.

GOTTA ASK AGAIN...IS THIS ART??

Honestly, I'm not being snide when I ask.....is this art?  I'm confounded by this exhibit at the Dia Beacon Museum. 

Dia Beacon is the museum for the Dia Art Foundation's collection of art from the 1960s to the present and is one of the 11 locations and sites they manage. The museum, which opened in 2003, is situated on the banks of the Hudson River in Beacon, New York. 

 Barry Le Va, 4 Layers: Placed, Dropped, Thrown, 1968–71/2019. Detail view, Dia:Beacon, Beacon, New York © Barry Le Va. Photo: Bill Jacobson Studio, New York, courtesy Dia Art Foundation, New York.

Mel Bochner, Measurement Room: No Vantage Point, 1969/2019. Installation view, Dia:Beacon, Beacon, New York. © Mel Bochner. Photo: Bill Jacobson Studio, New York, courtesy Dia Art Foundation, New York.

BACK TO TRADITION

Creating affordable art for sale generally requires a different construction approach.  That doesn't mean a reduction of quality, rather that stitching is mostly by machine instead of the much more time consuming hand work I've enjoyed since I began quilt making back in the early 80's.

My stealth project features hand applique....a labor of love.

FUN ALONG THE BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY

We belong to a very active car club.  Our Drive and Dine events are always very popular....even if that now means drive and picnic with social distancing.

 This is the 3rd grouping of 15 cars each that did the drive to Mt. Mitchell, picnic and finished up zooming along the Devil's Whip (which ends near Marion, NC)

 Typical vista views often seen earlier in the day before the sun burns off all the moisture.  

The speed limit on the Parkway is 45 mph, but often drops to 35 or 25 depending upon the terrain.  Lower speeds certainly help to enjoy the scenery.

REAL LIFE

As promised....here's a snapshot of life in the mountains.....

 We often have weird mold spores pop up that grow almost overnight and disappear nearly as quickly.  Sometimes plants here seem to grow just as quickly, which was my first reaction after seeing this. But I know these spores die out within 24-48 hrs. and surely the decorative grass didn't grow that much overnight?  The mass was on the ground in a ditch right by our mailbox the day before, so I suspect the torrential rain we had later that day pushed it up the grass stems.  Weird, right?!?     

I spotted this a couple of days ago in nearly the same place that our black lab Sooty (to our total shock) pounced on another smaller black snake a few days before.  She had it in her jaw for just a second.....I think she was shocked too that she caught it (she's an awesome mole hunter).  This snake was HUGE...we thought it was dead since it didn't move when we walk up close to peer intently.  However, upon our return home from our afternoon forced march, it was gone....creepy.

NEW PROJECT UNDER WRAPS

I'm going to be working on a new project that will be kept under-wraps for the time being, therefore my fiber posts may be infrequent.  This is the last you'll probably see of the piece, but I'll be documenting the process and share when I can.

 I'll be focusing on other positive details, which will definitely not be politically related.  I'm totally fed up with all that's going on.  So, please check back won't you?

PURCHASE DIRECT FROM GALLERY

In person sales are understandably a bit slow right now.  If you had your eye on a piece from a previous blog shown that's now on display here at Woolworth Walk Gallery, you may purchase it by phone and have it shipped directly to you.

Review here for individual photos, sizes, prices, or contact Woolworth's for further details to purchase a piece.  Thank you in advance for your support!

3 TREES

The alternate title for this piece should be 3 weeks.....since it took nearly that long to create it.  Either it fought me every step of the way or I fought it!

However, I'm now pleased with it and hope someone else will be too.  

3 TREES - 13" x 22.5"

AVAILABLE HERE

Hand dye-painted and gradation dyed cottons,

machine appliqued & hand embroidered

DETAIL