It’s been a while since I’ve written last as I’ve been visiting my mother in gorgeous North Carolina.  Mind you, they’ve been having a mild summer filled with 70 degree days and 50 degree nights.  That is until I got there.  Apparently the entire East Coast suffered a crazy heat wave the week I was there.  94 degree days.  65 percent humidity.  I have never sweat so much in my life.  Oh yeah, and mom doesn’t have ac in her house.  Arggghhhh!  It got so bad that we went to Sears and bought a little window unit for her bedroom.  After that, we did everything in her room including eat dinner.

We had a great visit although the time was way too short.  We celebrated her birthday and my best friend Christine came up from Wilmington for some crazy adventures.  Of course I did some shopping at all my favorite stores and I had to use an extra suitcase to get everything back home on the plane.  Check out the pics from my fun-but-all-too-short week.

On July 25th, Mom celebrated her 62nd birthday.  Unfortunately, I was still in AZ at the time so was unable to give her her gift.  It’s been a while since I’ve given any themed gifts, but my muse was talking this year.  I decided to give her fun embellishments for all her art projects.  Thanks to Mystic Paper and Scrapbook Barn, I found some super cool items.  I LOVE the little carrier on the right.  It is so cute and perfect for carrying a small amount of supplies.  The color pink is an added bonus.  When Christine got into town, she helped Mom organize her room.  I pretty much watched.  It was too daunting a task for me.  Christine was amazed at all the stuff my mom has in her art room.

I love this wand and while I wish I could say I made it, I bought it from a woman on Etsy.  Yeah Etsy!

I did make this card, however, and am pretty pleased with the outcome.  It’s been a long time since I’ve made a handmade card.  I need to do it more often.

This is me trying to take an artistic photo.  I think I need some more practice.

The night Christine got into town, Mom treated us to The Boat House — the only water-front dining in Asheville.  We had a yummylicious meal and I couldn’t pass up the key lime pie for dessert.  As my wise Aunt Meme once said, “Being a Southerner, having dessert is how we know the meal is over.”  

The next day we headed into Biltmore Village for the 35th annual Arts and Crafts Fair.  We got there pretty early, but the heat was still oppressive.  We didn’t stay as long as usual, but did make some beautiful purchases.  The above photo shows the gorgeous comb that Christine bought for her hair.

I adore all things mermaid and found some great batik prints from a woman out of Greenville, South Carolina.  The hat I have coveted since before I was married.  There is a great store in Biltmore Village called Two on Crescent.  The summer I got married, I bought some fun clothes from this store and noticed this hat.  It was way too expensive at the time so I passed it by.  It is handmade by a local NC artist and apparently the sales lady said they were not selling.  They had been marked down half off and there was no sales tax on account of tax free weekend.  So of course I had to buy it.  Now it sits on a hat stand on my dresser and I have already worn it quite a bit.

This is the other print I bought although it is not framed.  Michael’s is having a sale on all their frames so I will probably get one this week.  I am hoping to hang both prints in our fish/art room.  I figured it would go with both themes — fish and art.

Three lovely Southern Belles, glistening in the heat waiting for lunch.

After eating lunch, Christine and I dropped Mom off and headed to Brevard for an afternoon of geocaching and swimming.  This is Christine precariously crossing a creek to our first find.  I love how her mouth is open when she concentrates!

Despite being high school graduates and diligent with the GPS, we were 0 for 3.  The thick forest cover made it difficult to get a reading and the heat sort of muddled our brains.  We had a great time anyway and the creek made it fun.

About our third go around looking for a cache, we came across a neat trail head.  It started to rain and so we decided to give up on our quest but hike the trail.  Mind you, we had no idea where it lead or how long it was.  After a few minutes, the skies opened up and a huge deluge rained down upon us.  It was glorious and it cooled things off considerably.  We ran into some hikers coming down and asked them where the trail led to.  Apparently it ended at a small waterfall.  After less than an hour, we reached the end and it was amazing.  Alas, I did not bring the camera for fear of the rain, but take my word for it, it was beautiful.  Both Christine and I stood under the falls and enjoyed the rain, water and solitude.  As we hiked back down, all the little creeks were raging on account of the rain.  It was amazing.

After our adventures, we headed back home and to the grocery store.  Christine was making her famous Chicken and Rice and we needed supplies.  We were both drenched with no dry clothes to speak of ,so we had to pilfer from mom’s car.  I found a Gordons Fisherman’s raincoat and she found a huge Hawaiian shirt to cover up our swimsuits.  We had to document how silly we looked going into Ingles.  The funny thing was we didn’t turn any heads.  I guess that gives you an idea about the clientele of West Asheville.

Christine left on Sunday and Mom and I headed to Flat Rock Playhouse to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  It had been years since I’d seen the show and the cast did a great job.  We took a picture in our theatre clothes before heading out.  Notice mom’s gorgeous garden.  It reminds me of something you’d find in England.

This is some yarn I bought at one of my favorite stores in Biltmore Village.  I  got it all on sale and will use it for fibers and scarves once it gets cooler.

Mom introduced me to a great used book store called Mr. Kay’s. While there, I purchased three art books which I am pleased to add to my collection.  They have wonderful ideas.

I also added three books to my Steven Kellogg collection.  For those of you who have never heard of Kellogg, he is my favorite children’s book illustrator.  He has been writing longer than I have been alive and his pictures are chalked full of detail.  Chuck and I enjoy looking at the pictures and finding something new each time we look at the books.

Now I have the daunting task of scrapping my vacation and preparing for fall classes.  I am teaching four acting classes and directing two troupes.  Plus, I will continue working at the recreation center.  Whew!  I definitely have my hands full.