on a cruise

i am on a cruise right now if any one wants to follow me on google latitude.

Random bike rides

These pics are from multiple bike rides we have taken over the last few weeks. Some are taken in or around the area Arboretum.

new helmet

................ leaving for NYC today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! woohoo!!!

Sunday Beauty

Yesterday morning I glanced out my kitchen window and saw this. I was so excited that I grabbed my camera, kicked off my slippers, and ran outside in my pajamas to capture a picture. I love hot air balloons! It was a pretty grey morning, but I'm sure they were still enjoying themselves. I think it took off from the field next to the farm house.

Later we drove to Linville Gorge which is known to some as the Grand Canyon of the East. We hiked and then did a little climbing in Devil's Cellar. (i'm pretty rusty) It was absolutely beautiful. The mountains and valleys were frosted with trees of every color. I day dreamed of flying over the trees with the sun shining down the valleys.

The paths we follow. Never know the beauty and wonder it might lead to.

Devil's Cellar (above)





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and these last 2 are a couple Nick took

that Fall feeling

a sign i made out of leaves and mini pine cones i have collected. hanging next to our door.

more leaves and pine cones......



i got this owl when we first moved to Asheville and were looking for furniture.

happy Fall everyone!

Painting and a Road trip... go figure

All settled in and finally painting. For some reason or another it was hard to start. It's weird, but I feel a lot of pressure right now. I suppose it's pressure to "make something great" or at least something good. ha ha. I went to an Art Walk in downtown Asheville last night. I was checking out the competition in a way (as I always do), but I look for inspiration, ideas, and maybe even some tips. But it made me realize that I really am focusing on "what's selling"... which IS important, but not as important as having fun. enjoying the process. creating something I like. and just plain PLAYING. uggh.

So. I'm going to share with you what I've been up to. Today, Yesterday, this week, etc.

I'll start with this little guy. My FIRST painting on the road. My first painting in Asheville. In our barn. In front of our picture window. just gotta get started. just gotta paint something. that's what I told myself. here it is.


Another little baby step. On to my second painting. I started with a little piece of inspiration. Working off that, I started this.....


And it developed into this....


This is my desk tonight.

Shows the fun wrapping around to the side.

And this is where I am on it as of now. Started to kind of "age" it. There is a little yellow in the top right corner. I think I'll experiment with it and see what happens. Hopefully I'll still like it in the end :)

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Oh, and almost forgot the Road trip part. So I'm bustin' out the CD my sis gave me for my bday (traveling songs... like On the Road Again) and heading out for Charlotte tomorrow, to pick up Nick. His friend that use to live there just happens to be visiting and we plan to hang out with her a bit. Yay, friends. Man I miss friends. Any who, I also got invited (first time ever) to have breakfast in the farm house. I'm sure it will be delish! So now I'm getting all excited for tomorrow and need to go to bed. Trying to sleep might be difficult now...yawn. ahh, good ol' sleepy me. Goodnight everyone.

my BIKE RIDE alone

Yesterday was my first day alone in Asheville. Had some chores to take care of in the morning then loaded the bike up and went to Bent Creek (its actually a forest/park with lots of trails). I am not quite tall enough to load the bike on the roof by myself so I took along a chair for assistance. I did receive one comment from the unexpecting biker in the car next to me when I unloaded it. I told him, "it's got to be done, one way or another." I had a very enjoyable ride. I stopped a lot. Took these beautiful pics.

[some of the leaves are already changing]

[found stairway]

[waterfall I found beside the road.

Gathered lots of leaves that managed to survive the trip in my pocket.

Got all sappy trying to figure out a way to bring back some big, long pine cones. Never did figure it out, but the sap stayed with me til I got home. It was really nice to go my own pace and not over do it. I am pretty sure I made it to the top, and started going down the other side...then figured I'd better turn around and go back the way I came because I had no idea where I would end up. I'm super excited to get to show this new path to Nick. We have done part of this trail before, but I took a different turn and explored a completely different one. It was a nice surprise to find that the climbs were broken up with some down hill action.

Charlotte, NC

Nick is in Wichita til Sunday to attend a Wedding. He flew out of Charlotte so we got a chance to check out the city for the first time, though very briefly. We got there Monday afternoon. He worked and I started **thrift shopping**. I ended up only going to one place (Value Village on Freedom Dr) because I started looking at all their men's long sleeve shirts and wishing Nick was there to try them on.

[he now owns the dark blue one with leaves]

[detail shot of 2 others he now owns. he got a whole bag for $16 dollars. heck of a deal!]

I took a bunch of pics and was emailing them to him, but I ended up going back to the hotel and picking him up so he could try them on. (I forgot my Camera so forgive me for taking them with my phone.)

We then went to a neat area called Noda that (according to Nick) is an art district. Unfortunately it was after hours on a Monday night, so no art was to be found. We ate dinner at a cajun place and then walked around the area a bit before heading back to the hotel. BTW, I thought I didn't like gumbo, but he ordered it and it was delicious!

Tuesday Morning....... Nick caught the 5am shuttle to the airport so I went back to bed after telling him goodbye. I ate the complimentary breakfast and unfortunately spent waaaay to much time watching the free tv (for the few of you who don't know this already, I dont watch tv. or should I say... I dont have a tv. but when its available, I just get sucked in. hmmm, that reminds me why I don't have a tv.)

I spent the afternoon thrift shopping!!!!! again. This time checked out quite a few places. There are some real quality places there. Charlotte must love their thrift shops. I did :).

These mushroom lids were found at the Community Thrift store on Freedom Dr.

[I didn't buy them. They would however be cute wall decor for someone.]

And there was a Goodwill OUTLET there. I have never seen such a thing. There were tables and tables of clothes and linens, all mingled together. When I walked in, I wasn't sure I was suppose to be in there. It looked like the receiving warehouse where the workers sorted everything out. But it wasn't. There were lots of people rummaging through them all. And the strangest part of all.... they sell it by the POUND. $1.39 a pound to be exact. I had never bought clothes/sheets by the pound and wasn't sure how it would compare. I added in my head what I would pay for each item and together hoped it would be under $10... and it was right under, even after tax. I goood :)

I checked out the Salvation Army (lots and lots of furniture... decent too) and another Goodwill. These super cute Girly Monkey PJs were so tempting...and soft.