Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Above the clouds in North Carolina

Did you wonder where I went?

It's hard to believe that I've been MIA for over two weeks, but sometimes getting away trumps everything else. 

I took a week to get away and visit my sister and her hubby in North Carolina. Truth be told, she's the real artist in the family - she has more talent and creativity in her pinkie than I have in my whole body, and  spending a week with them was just what the doctor ordered. 

They live on the top of a mountain, in the the middle of nowhere. 


No, I mean it - they live at 4000 feet elevation. Looking out the windows, you're above the clouds. 

Sunsets are magnificent.


 No, I mean it! If you live here,


you can't help but be inspired by everything around you. 

The colors, the trees, the wide open spaces... it's awesome. 


You can lose hours just by sitting on their front porch, taking in the view. 


Just be careful, in case the bears decide to venture out and snack on the apple trees. 






No, I mean it! 


They  wander around like they own the place! 


I mean, how often do you hear - "watch out for the bears" when you go outside? Their land is a forest of trees - and I was thrilled to see some Sassafras trees close-up.


 It's one of my favorite woods, and the trees are amazing - they start out as skinny saplings and grown into amazing giants. 


They have a few bottle trees in their yard, too. 


I'm not sure how those are to build with, 


but apparently - they grow wild in North Carolina. 


There was a ton of woodworking to see, and I'll post some of my favorite pieces, as well as introduce you to a few artists that I met. 


Stay tuned!







Wednesday, September 04, 2019

HMS Terror... take a dive back in time

A few years ago, one of my students got me hooked on reading historical books about shipwrecks. I devoured stories about Ernest Shackleton,  Robert Falcon Scott's  South Pole disaster, and more. 

Check out this video - this ship was located in the frigid waters near Nunavut, Canada. They've named it Terror Bay, which is a perfect description, in my opinion.