Wahsega Valley Farm

Mountain festival

Yesterday Mike and I decided to take the day off - finally, a day off - and go to the mountain festival on the town square of our new home town.The festival was described as "an incredible weekend of music and art held each spring in the foothills of the North Georgia mountains". The town itself is small and quaint and we love it. There are lotsa cool shops surrounding the square that we haven't had the time to check out since we moved there. We'd walked around several times before we bought our farm, but there are new shops and it's just different because now it's home.

The festival was small compared to the huge ones in Atlanta and I enjoyed getting there early, right when the artists and crafts people were setting up their wares. And not being trapped in traffic clogged streets! What a luxury. We chatted with soap makers and potters and blacksmiths. And a really cool artist who makes jewelry, furniture and books out of willow, bark and stones. Beautiful stuff. The weather was as perfect as it could be and we're thinking that next year or the year after we might be there in our own little tent selling our creations. Well... you never know. It would be fun.  

So here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure...

This painter had a whole tent full of colorful pictures he'd painted for sale. 

Here are a few of shops around the town square:

And some of the vendors setting up...

In the middle of town is the public square where people were sitting around playing blue grass music. It was just getting started here. Later in the afternoon when we drove back through there were lots of people playing and listening.

This is Mike LaVoe, a pottery teacher at a folk school in North Carolina - about an hour north of where we live. While my Mike talked to a blacksmith, I chatted with Mike about pottery. He threw four bowls while we talked and gave me some pointers on throwing. We also talked about the school where he teaches and I will write about that in my next post. It sounds perfect for Mike and me.

It was sure nice having a day off from working on the cabin and garden. And being at the festival has planted all kinds of ideas in our minds about the things we want to do at our little farm. Trying to be patient while we set things up is difficult!

Duchess of Duke Street

Our TV stopped working last week and though I don't watch a whole lot on it, I do like movies - especially in the evenings when I'm waiting for Mike to get home. So, in lieu of movies on the TV, I started popping in some of my old favorites... Out of Africa, Fried Green Tomatoes and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Then, I rediscovered in my stash a Masterpiece Theater series that I totally loved about fifteen years ago, The Duchess of Duke Street, and have been enamored with it once again. It is a BBC drama series set in London between 1900 and 1925, starring Gemma Jones as Louisa Trotter, who works her way up from a servant to a famous cook to the upper class. Some of the things I love about the series are the period clothing and hairdos (most of which are wigs, I am quite sure, but they look good), the way they talk and just imagining what it must have been to live back in those days. In Louisa's kitchen all sorts of wondrous meals are created, but the kitchen itself looks spartan. No fancy appliances - just a lot of hard work. And it shows how distinct the different classes of society were back in those days. It's not a show Mike would care for; there is too much conversation and not enough action, but I loooove it and the characters, so I put it on during those times he's gone. If you like period pieces and strong women, I recommend The Duchess of Duke Street.