Asheville Birthday Visit

We went to Asheville for Aunt William's birthday.  The drive from our house to hers has been as quick as 5 1/2 hours, this time however, we set a new record for the longest travel time - 11 hours.  That is a record I hope we do not set again.

Meredith rode an antique horse at the Tobacco Barn, a huge antiques shop

Asheville has several great chocolate shops.  Claire took us to her favorite and they were just dipping some marshmallows in chocolate so we went to an antique shop where I found a small round pyrex dish in my favorite pattern - crazy daisy - yay.  When we returned the marshmallows had set.  Audrey couldn't decide between that and the homemade gellato, so we let her get both but she had to save the marshmallow for later.  Meredith got milk chocolate M&M bark, I got the best dark chocolate pecan turtle I have ever had.  Unfortunately we left the marshmallow in Will's fridge, so I promised Audrey she could try dipping her own marshmallow in melted chocolate chips.  She became a chocolate artist!

Audrey becoming a chocolatier with marshmallows

Audrey and Aunt William learning some basics of wrestling

Claire had a friend offer to give the girls a basic jujitsu class in the park, which Audrey loved.  Then we hit a couple of the local parks with amazing playgrounds - out of wood! Around here the playgrounds are all plastic and plastic coated metal. So that was fun.

Audrey hanging upside down at the playground

We went hiking up in the Pisgah National Forest to a place the girls and I found over spring break, Lake Powhatan.  It has a lovely little sandy beach area in one stretch and Meredith, Audrey, and I rolled up our pants, took off our shoes and waded in.  Meredith managed to get herself completely soaked.

Ryan and the girls drove a day ahead of me to visit his sister in Winston-Salem.  I don't know how I didn't get a picture of cousin time, but the girls both had "sleep overs", Audrey and Tori in one room and Meredith and Ellie in another.  This was Meredith's first "sleep over" so she was super excited, though after a day of hard playing was asleep as soon as her head hit her pillow.

Claire drove me to meet up with the rest of the crew and then we drove back.  Luckily the drive back was uneventful and quick.

Ohio visit to Lehman's

Weary traveler looking into the sun for a selfie in front of Lehman's

My trip back to DC from Chicago was a great adventure. I took small country roads through most of Ohio and it was breathtakingly beautiful especially this time of year.  It was not a fast drive.  If I ever have time to just drive through out the country, I hope to take lots of small country roads.  That is when the drive is really pretty.  I certainly appreciate road trips via the highway for speed, but the beauty found down the country roads can't be beat.

Cast Iron Cafe - seriously cute!

I finally pulled up to Lehman's and was super excited, hungry, and a little weary.  This place is huge! I immediately headed towards the "Cast Iron Cafe" but was a bit disappointed that they were out of soup and the specialty was hot dogs.  I asked what the most popular item was and purchased a bratwurst with swiss cheese and sauerkraut along with potato chips made with lard and a Lehman's brand root beer.   Whether it was my hunger or the food, I don't know, but it was all surprisingly good.

Made with Lard Potato Chips - quite tasty.

The store was organized like no store I have ever seen, it was amazing.  The sections I saw: gardening, dairy, canning, stoves, sewing, laundry, lighting, oil lamps, soap making, cleaning materials, toys, books, food, clothes/hats, kitchen, grain milling/grinding, and a fudge counter. There were real Amish people there too, with their horse and buggy parked out back.  Lots of people in overalls (it made me really wish I hadn't cut mine up into a denim quilt...).

Dairy section - above the for-sales items, displays of antique items

I thought the dairy section was neat.  They had milk pales, cheese making supplies, butter churns, butter presses (which I almost got to make cute designs in butter for holidays).  

There was an exhibit of wood relief art.  I wish my photography were better, because this art was truly amazing.  These pictures do not do it justice.

I think my favorite section was the wood stove showroom, which was rather warm with a couple of the stoves lit. 

This is an old fashioned look to mostly modern appliances - they had it in red too!

Dreaming - me and my homesteading stove

The dream stove in all its own glory.

The section I did not take a picture of, but should have, was the laundry section.  They had a variety of washboards, glass, galvanized steel, and several sizes too.  I almost got one - just for the coolness of a washboard.  They had all kinds of drying contraptions - and that was a real temptation (but I did not have the room in my vehicle).  Well made drying racks are hard to come by and they had so many sizes and types and they all folded down, some attached to the wall and folded into a nifty shelf.  

After a good meander through the store, I ended up purchasing a bag of white popcorn kernels, a thick square yardstick, a stainless steel colander, and a paring knife.  Practical souvenirs from an impractical visit to a practical store.

Lehman's here I come

I like old-fashioned and home-made things.  I value making things myself whenever I can.  I love to learn a little more and improve my domestic skills all the time.  I read books, blogs, and articles on cooking, preserving, knitting, and homesteading.  Someday, I would love to have some acreage of my own to grow a big garden and raise some chickens, maybe even have a milk cow too.

Because of my love for old-fashioned things, I have a bit of a fascination with the Amish too.  I love their simple (yet hardworking) ways.  I like sparkle, shine, and the internet too much to ever join the Amish, but I do admire their culture.  So naturally, I have been hoping to go visit Lehman's, a store that specializes in old-fashioned and Amish tools.   This weekend I am going to go visit Claire in Chicago to help her get ready for her upcoming move and I have decided that I am going to finally stop by Lehman's on my way.   It is about half-way between me and Claire, but I usually have the girls in tow with me and they make a long drive so much longer, so I haven't wanted to extend it even more with a bit of a side trip.  This time it is just me and I am super excited.  My plan is to leave early Friday morning and have lunch at Lehman's and wander around the store for about 45 minutes, then continue on my merry way to Chicago perhaps with a new colander.  

Tips for travel to Iraq

Things to bring: flashlight - power is spotty when it is there, even in the nice places; lock - there are various lockers and they are not that secure, but better than nothing; flipflops - or somesort of shower shoe; towel, pillow, sheets, etc.; rugged shoes; khaki pants - otherwise you just won't fit in - trust me i didn't; sunglasses - really good ones; power converters/adaptors (several); sunscreen - regular and travel size; around the neck travel pouch for the essential documents (passport, etc) that you must have at the ready at all times; patience and a sense of humor - the key to all good travel.

Things not to bring: blowdryer - it will most likely take care of that pesky electricity problem you had for a few minutes; heels; nice clothes - things just smell weird when they get home; luggage on wheels - go for a large backpack - but not too large, you will carry it a lot.

Brazil pics - part 2

Another amazing thing about Brazil - that I failed to capture on film - was the fruit. It was ambrosia. The mangoes, the passionfruit, the pineapple, the papaya, and some artichoke looking fruit that was white in the center was absolutely delicious. Everyday for breakfast we would go to the roof of the hotel where they had an amazing breakfast bar and you looked out over the beach while eating the best fruit you have ever had in your life.

Another amazing thing - also sans photo - the coffee. They had little espresso machines with whole beans everywhere. I am not normally an espresso fan - it is just too much. But to Brazilians, it is just coffee and it was seriously amazing. The had a little coffee dish called cafe com chantilly - coffee with whipped cream that was absolutely the best coffee in the world.

Back to things i did get pictures of...

The Christ statue. On the way up to the top of the mountain, you take a little train where if you stick a limb out the half-windows you are likely to lose it. It was seriously chiseled into the side of the mountain, through a rain forest with occasional train stops for people who actually lived there.

The first picture is something growing on the trees along the train route, my botany background got the better of me and I took several pics. If there are any phytologically minded people out there who know what they are, please share. I would love to know too.

The second pic is also from the train, it doesn't really show you how steep the mountain is, but you can see that you are getting pretty high up.

Once you get to the end of the train ride, you have to hike up several flights of stairs, maybe 6 floors worth to get to the top, but then the top - wow. This statue is huge and it overlooks the city from several different views. Everyone, was trying to get a good pic of themselves with their arms outstretched juxtapositioned in front of Christ. I refrained, but just barely. It was a holiday in Rio on the day we went up, so it was crazy crowded up there and really hot (especially after all the stairs).

Brazil pics - part 1

This if from the coffee run in a mad dash (hurry up and wait style) across Dulles airport to get the delicious Mayorga coffee (speaking of, they are at my Costco this weekend - yay!).
The view from the front of my hotel room. One thing I wish I would have captured on film is the sidewalks. They were amazing. You can see the sixties era pattern on the Ipanema beach sidewalks and it was all with small stones. All of the sidewalks were basically mosaics - talk about a laborious way to create a walkway. The result is really beautiful. It is amazing. And if you head down the beach for a while you reach Copacobana beach and the sidewalk pattern there is a wave of black and white.

The view from the side of the hotel room (I had the front corner - which gave me awesome ocean breezes). One funny thing about Brazil, this beautiful mountain in the distance is highly populated as you see, but it is a favela or squatter village. Can you imagine a group of squatters just taking over prime real estate like that anywhere else.

I only wish I were a better photographer and that I hadn't been so chicken to take my camera out of my bag that I was desperately gripping the entire time I was in Brazil.

Okay, getting these pics in the right places is a trick with blogger, so I am starting another post - all apologies.