The Long Road Home.

It’s a well known fact how much I love mountains.  Anywhere there are mountains, my soul soars with their heights.

I love the farmlands tucked in between the ridges and hollows, fields of green, winding roads and old homesteads, many of which are still occupied and thriving.

I love a countryside dotted with silos and old barns.

Yes, these two lane highways with double yellow lines generally mean you can’t travel as quickly, and the whole road is a “no passing zone."

That can cause a bit of a problem of its own if you happen to find yourself following Farmer Jones as he meanders from one spot to another, in no real hurry to get there – This is, after all, Appalachia.  Folks drive as slow as they talk down here.

This is what we call an Appalachian Traffic Jam:

 

Hey, Buddy!  You are going 35 in a 55!!

And I think I followed him for about 15 miles this way.  He didn’t bother to check his rear-view mirror, he didn’t pull over to let traffic pass – in fact, I was the “only” other traffic on the road with no one behind me, so he just became the engine, and I was his caboose.

Eventually I decided to relax a bit and play along myself.  It was a lovely day.  Windows were down, and since there was no one behind me, I stopped in the middle of the road and took this photo:

What’s the story of this house?

I bet it was magnificent in its day.  That porch wraps all the way around, the way southern porches from a bygone era tend to do.  Perfect for ice tea drinking and porch rocking.  Who lived here, loved here, made memories here?  And wouldn’t you love one of those upper corners as your bedroom?  Or sewing room?

“Hello old house, nice to be able to appreciate you for just a bit!”  I said as I put my foot back on the gas pedal and played catch up with Mr Pickup Truck just ahead, still rambling down the road at 35 miles per hour.

Peek-a-boo!  I see you!

And in a few weeks I won’t be seeing this at all – the trees will leaf out keeping this beauty behind a curtain of green until fall.  I think I could see some quilting happening on that upper veranda, perhaps?  Maybe some simple piecing, or some embroidery work done by the lady of the house.

If this was the farmhouse, it looks to have been a prosperous one.  I wonder what they grew.  Did they raise cattle or have horses on this land?  There is still a lot of that going on here in the blue ridge.  Further up the road, back where I came from there are Christmas tree farms a plenty, and they are so beautiful to drive past with trees all in rows extending up hillsides where regular crop growing couldn’t happen.

Closer to Sparta,  Farmer Jones takes a turn and just as I think I’m safe from more traffic impediments,  Oh NO!

Double traffic trouble!  And a double yellow line as far as the eye can see!

All the way through town!

And just at the edge of town, traffic has slowed to a stop with a long snake of vehicles waiting to go further down the road.  There are road workers with STOP signs that reverse to say “SLOW” –Road construction has this bit of the soon-to-resume highway down to one lane with a pilot car, letting each southbound or northbound line of traffic take their turns in passing this section.

Not only am I behind Double Trouble, but he is behind at least 20 cars headed down toward the winding bit of mountain road that heads to Elkin down below.

“Oh, THIS is not happening!” I said to myself, and as soon as our line was good to go, I went on a bit, pulled into a Mexican place for lunch, and planned to make my next entrance onto the road with a full belly, and NOT following 25 cars and double trouble hay hauler at 25 miles per hour all the way down the windy curvy do-not-pass double yellow lined highway.

The house on Main Street

This is the house that is up for sale on Main Street in Mouth of Wilson, VA about 4 miles from the cabin.  When I slowed to take THIS photo, I didn’t even notice the mom and daughter playing on the front steps!  I only saw them when I went to edit the photo.  

This big Victorian has 5 bedrooms, but only 2 1/2 baths.  It’s been redone inside.  It would make a GREAT retreat center if not for the fact that it needs more baths if you are going to house enough folks for a retreat.

But every time we drive by it I wish I could see inside –I would LOVE to have a retreat place and have folks come to me, instead of me go to them.

I’ve thought of having SOME weeks as weeks that I would teach, and other weeks that would just be open sew.

It’s a long time off if anything like that happens.  But it’s good to dream, isn’t it?

Maybe some day I’ll go knock on the door, introduce myself to the lady I saw on the steps and ask if she would mind if I took a look around.  Dreams have to start somewhere!

FYI –the closest airport to Mouth of Wilson is Roanoke, VA. a 2 hour drive away.  The airport in Greensboro, a bit bigger, is 2 1/2 hours away, and Charlotte NC is about the same at 2 1/2 hours away.

 

In search of backgrounds!

I’m auditioning background fabrics for my hexie star small quilt project. The center will be appliqued in place, and framed with pieced borders. I'm kind of partial to this aqua batik! I am not sure about borders yet, and this is all the playing with fabric that happened for me yesterday.

I took care of desk work, sitting still.  I got bored and reorganized the stock room as new merchandise came in. (See last night’s give-away post if you missed it!)

I feel like I’ve been hit in the head with a hammer.  It should get better day by day, and already this morning after a good night’s sleep I feel like I’ve rounded the bend.

The incision on my forehead is slowly getting to the point where it doesn't hurt to raise an eyebrow. Try smiling without raising your eyebrows. Try laughing with no facial expression. Weird.

And the numbness continues above the incision to the top of my head. They said they would likely be cutting into some nerves to get it all. At least it is just numb, and not leaving me with some startled expression.

Jeff says the scar does look like Harry Potter as it has a bit of a zig-zag to it. Okay, if you are going to have to have a scar on your forehead, it may as well be a cool one like that.

I am cabin bound today, and have planned a stop off in Wilkesboro for lunch with Mona.  She called to see if I could spare any orange or black 2” strips for her current project:

SO GREAT!!

This woman is on fire.  She is doing all of her bow-ties in orange, all with black backgrounds.  And I am so happy to contribute my oranges and blacks to this project.

My son Jason may be coming up this weekend from South Carolina.  I hope he does.  I’d love to see him and show him around.

Border fabrics are coming with me for the Straights of Mackinac quilt and I’ll set into cutting and sewing for that project, and continue the hand quilting of THIS project in the evenings:

Getting it done.  One hoop at a time!

My ongoing hand quilting project - Orphan Block Sampler, the top was finished in 2007. I pieced the borders after Tonya Ricucci got me hooked on pieced letters long before her book Word Play Quilts was a reality. I just need to finish quilting the center and I will be done!

Yes, it is bound.  I quilt Baptist fans from the outside edge in towards the center, working in a spiral. Once you've gone completely around the outside edge, adding binding is possible, and keeps loose batting from shredding all over the place. I’m getting there.  And I love slow stitching in the evening.

Quiltville Quote of the Day!

Vintage Lemoyne star quilt found in North Carolina.

Thursday morning with a heart full of gratitude.

Life may be stressful, overly full, and deadlines may loom - but I am so grateful.

Have a wonderful day, everyone!

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