Nature is Cool - Who Knew?

My parents were nice enough to take my sister and I on an old-school family vacation to visit my aunt and uncle and cousins in Tennessee and the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina this past week (and, of course, our husbands - who both had to work - were nice enough to let us go without them and without too much vacation jealousy). Luckily, our vacation occurred before winter came again (yesterday the wind chill here was 23 degrees) and we enjoyed green grass, bright skies, and blooming flowers. I have never been what you might call a nature lover, so I have really surprised myself this year by how much I have enjoyed this taste of spring and renewal and life.
In fact, I only took one picture of an actual human during this trip: the below image of my sister, Kelli, holding the ranch dressing "on the side" that the waitress at Apollo Flame restaurant (its not as interesting as it sounds) brought with her salad. She didn't use it all.

The first stop on our trip was Hampton, Tennessee, where my Aunt Ann, Uncle Steve, and Cousins Sara and John live. They live in a great old family house complete with a giant wrap-around porch, a couple barns, and a horse, in the foothills of mountains. Maybe its because I'm on vacation whenever I visit, but in this place time seems to slow down and become more leisurely. Little things don't seem as important and I actually enjoy sitting outside and knitting on the porch into the evening, glancing out at the perfect rows of baby trees in the nursery across the road. I would never do that at home - it would never even occur to me - though I have a nice view of trees and rolling hills from my back yard.

After our relaxing time in Tennessee we packed up and headed east to Asheville, North Carolina. Though our primary destination was the historic Biltmore Mansion I was pleasantly delighted by the city of Asheville. I didn't know anything about it before we went and to my surprise, it is an artsy hipster town full of cool restaurants and art galleries/shops - some featuring really innovative handcrafted clothing, accessories, and functional art. We didn't have much time to spend there but Randy and I are already planning a trip to visit soon.

A highlight of my visit to downtown Asheville was a store called Ten Thousand Villages. A non-profit agency, it sells handcrafted items made by artisan in over 30 developing countries who would otherwise be unemployed or underemployed. I went in expecting the merchandise to be fun to look at but out of my price range. Rather, it was all very reasonably priced and there was so much I wanted to buy. I ended up leaving with an indigo blue star garland to go in our spare room (pictures coming later this week)made in Bengladesh and an amber stone necklace made in India. You can visit their web site here - they have stores all around the country plus you can shop online. I can't wait to go back.

My favorite part of the Biltmore, suprisingly enough, was the garden. Or shall I say "gardens".

With my newfound appreciation of flowers and plants I have been thinking about adopting some and cheering up the house. (If you hear distant, muffled cries its just my only current plant responsibility warning other plants not to come to the "house of torture".) But I don't know if I'm ready for that - maybe I'll just keep looking at the pictures I took instead.

I liked them so much that I already got some enlarged, printed, and framed for a new project I am working on this weekend.
I won't reveal the project in its entirety until it is finished and I have pictures to prove it. All I'll say is: Martha Stewart, look out.
And cut to more garden pictures:

Brace yourselves- the title of my next post is: The Torrid and True Details of My Illicit Affair. Chew on that.