Bele Chere July 29, 2011.

 I am still playing catch up with my posts here.

We went to Asheville, NC for Bele Chere on July 29th.

Bele Chere is a free street festival featuring music, art, crafts, music, dance and lots of great food.

The town of Asheville itself is one of our favorite places to visit, Bele Chere just makes it even more so.

The first picture, above, is inside one of my favorite bookstores, Malaprop's.

 Don't you just love the sign up on the shelf?

I think it is a great idea, bet it works too.

Would you leave a small child unattended here?

 One of our favorite stops!

The Chocolate Fetish Shop.

The truffles are HEAVENLY, and the shop is full of fun things made from chocolate.

The beach scene above is an example, even the sand is edible.

The chocolate fetish blog

 Another favorite stop is Kilwin's.

They make lovely fudge and ice cream.

The waffle bowls are very good and they hold lots of ice cream.

My Sweet Husband went for Triple chocolate and a scoop of cherry, 

I had Triple chocolate and a scoop of Key Lime (great combination).

 We did eat some healthy things while we were there.

My Sweet Husband found us some very good fresh organic tomatoes to go with our lunch

and dinner was from an Indian Food Vendor in the food court (it smelled so good, I forgot to take a picture).

 Daniel C. Williams and Son

Playing their Woodrow Stringed Instruments.

Small, portable, handmade, sounds great and looks easy to play.

The woodrow 

Check them out.

 A selection of their instruments.

 WNCW is our favorite radio station. They play a good variety including everything from Grateful Dead, to Bob Marley with Blue Grass, Jazz, old Rock and Celtic mixed in.

If you are too far away to pick up the station, you can listen to them on line too.

 Lots of people,

Crowds everywhere.

They all seemed to be smiling and laughing.

We were too.

 One of four outdoor stages set up around town for the festival.

There were Buskers of every type too. 

 Found me a new hat!

At the end of the day, even the squirrels looked worn out.

This guy found a cool spot to catch his breath.

We had a lovely day.

Cheers,

Kat

and Now, a break from our regularly scheduled post.

More Cats of Rome

This was the first cat to greet us in Rome. This poster is at the airport. I am not sure what it is telling us, (anyone read Italian?) but I like the style.
This little Kitty met us just inside the Capitoline Museum. He seems as if he is ready to move.

This Regal fellow lives on one of the fountains at Quattro Fontane. There is a fountain on each corner of the intersection.

Look at all these cats. I especially like the little black and white who is looking right at us.

These can be found in the Al Sogna Toy Shop in Piazza Navona.

This is a wonderful toy store.

If you ask, they will take you upstairs to show you the posh collectors dolls. Way out of my price range but well worth the climb. My guide book compares this shop to Santa's Workshop fifty years ago. I want to go back already.

This is another resident of Piazza Navona. Who knew lions liked water so much? He adorns one of many Roman fountains by Bernini.

My Sweet hubby is grinning from behind an old Egyptian statue on the Vatican grounds.

Detail from a Sarcophagi in the Vatican collection. This guy is carved from marble yet the detail is like the finest of porcelain.

One thing that amazes me is that, as old as my house is, art like this has been sitting right where it is since before my house was even a dream. Some of these things are at least a thousand years old. This guy was carved without the aid of electricity.

No, this isn't an escapee from the last post. Jaguars are cats too. This is one of my Sweet Hubby's favorites.

A big cat in an ancient mosaic that is on display at the Colosseum.

One of the sweetest kitties of all. This little lady was taking a nap in the sun at the Colosseum.

That's it for Roman cats but I have lots more to share from the trip.

Cheers,

Kat

The Grandparents

This top plate is the one I will tell you about in a minute, let me get the rest of the story in place first. I was in first or second grade and the Vietnam war was still going on. It was a few days before Thanksgiving and my teacher asked if I was going to my Grandparents house for Thanksgiving. I said "nope". She asked why not and I told her "Because, my parents are the grandparents. Everyone comes to our house". That year, they did.

This second plate is one of the saucers from that set.

I am the tail end of a big happy family. Jimmy, my oldest brother, (see his story at http://akatscorner.blogspot.com/2009/07/hero-worship.html ) was stationed, I believe, in Hawaii that year and my sister Mary's husband was stationed somewhere else, but all would be there for Thanksgiving. We got the extra leaves for the dinning room table out, (that thing was big with the extra bits) and we polished the silver. We got out the good table cloth. I helped to stuff the celery. (Spread cheese whiz on celery sticks, that is the only reason my Mom ever bought the stuff and she only did it on Thanksgiving and Christmas. She even had a big platter to put them on).
This is a pie plate from the set, it has been mended.
My Mom made excellent Pumpkin Pie, my favorite desert. (My Sweet Hubby, however, makes much better crusts) We always had Pumpkin pie for desert on Thanksgiving. With a crowd that big, there was probably apple pie too. I don't remember, when pumpkin pie is on the table, I can't see any reason to worry about any other kind. I guess you could count Mom's Yams as a desert too. She used candied yams from a can, put them in a greased square metal pan, put marshmallows on top and stuck it in the oven. We called them sweet potatoes, (I didn't know back then how many wonderful things you can do with sweet potatoes, that might be a whole other post).

This is from our walk a couple of days ago.

Mom made her stuffing almost the same way I do. She used cut apples and walnuts and apple juice for the liquid. She stuffed the bird, then put the rest of the stuffing in another square metal pan with the "gizzards" and neck then roasted it in the oven. (You do have to cover it with aluminum foil before it is done, but let it roast to start so you get the nice crunch bits). Stuffing is the only holiday food I am allowed to cook, (cookies don't count, that is baking, I am a very good baker). I do not put stuffing inside the bird, the bird cooks better without it and the vegetarians in the family prefer it that way. I start with the Pepperidge Farm herb or cornbread stuffing mix as a base. I only use about half the butter it calls for and it comes out great.

This is the first of two streams we pass on our walk, it does not always have this much water.

Mom had a turkey roaster. It was a great big thing kind of like a giant crock pot. Rectangular with removable insides for cleaning. It was huge! I have no idea how big of a turkey it would hold, but even with the whole crew eating, there was always left over turkey (Mom was a master when it came to feeding crowds). The turkey roaster only ever got used twice a year, the rest of the time, it took up space in the kitchen. I think my sister Paula has it now, I hope so. Mom always put bacon on top of the turkey to baste it, I think she basted it the old fashioned way too, but I don't remember for sure.

There were mashed potatoes and home made turkey gravy. There were dinner rolls and bread on the bread tray (Mom had a little silver tray that she put a stack of wonder bread for us kids and a stack of wheat bread for the grownups on). There were black olives and pimento stuffed green olives on a dish and pickles, maybe home made, Mom made good pickles but I don't know if she did that year or not. Everything had a dish or a plate, no bottles on the table at the holidays. There was tossed salad and a dish of green beans. We feasted!

The dogwood as of 16 November 09.

After the meal, we were stuffed, so stuffed that Dad suggested we take a break and come back for pie later (that was amazing in itself, Dad loved Mom's cooking). It was a good thing we waited. The "boys" went off into the other room, and us girls started to help Mom clear the table. I was collecting silver ware, I think my sister Margaret was already in the kitchen getting the dishwater ready (dishwasher, why would you need one of those with all these daughters?) My sister Paula collected the plates and started walking towards the kitchen. I am not sure what happened next, but somehow, poor Paula tripped and the entire stack of plates was on the floor. Every china dinner plate my Mother owned and all but one were broken. They were Currier and Ives, blue and white patterned. My Mom picked them up as premiums from the grocery store years ago and before "the fall" she had enough to feed all of us. The first plate pictured at the top, is the last surviving dinner plate from that set. I also have a few of the pie plates, some saucers, mugs and little bowels that survived all the years in between. We were stunned. We swept up the pieces, I don't think anyone even growled at Paula (even after all these years, I could cry for her, I wonder how she remembers it). We had out pie and enjoyed the visit. Later that evening, Mom went out to the camper and brought in the Melmac dinner plates they kept for hunting and camping. Nothing else was said.

This is one of my art projects for this week. I can't decide if I like it or not.
After that Thanksgiving, life went back to normal, except we used the camping dishes. That year for Christmas, several huge boxes arrived in the mail. My big brother Jimmy sent my Mom a brand new set of China for Christmas. It had everything from serving dishes to tea cups and I think there was service for 12. My sister Mary and her husband also sent my Mom a complete set of china for Christmas that year. Both sets were lovely. The set Jimmy sent was the prettiest and had gold around the rims so Mom decided Jimmy's set would be used for special occasions and Mary's for everyday. The Melmac went back out to the camper and Mom just beamed.

This is the second of my two art projects. I like it a lot better. Both are a combination of digital and hand work from photographs.

On the way back from the walk, I saw our lovely home peaking through the autumn trees and had to snap this picture.

Another generation is using those dishes now, what is left of the blue and white set has been divided up. I see years of memories whenever I look at them. I am not sure yet who all will be feasting with us this year, but we will be feasting and I am hoping all the usual suspects show up. I have to work on Thanksgiving so we have moved the holiday to the day after. I can be truly thankful for my big wonderful family on any day.

Do you go to your Grandparents house for Thanksgiving?

Cheers!

Kat

Bele Chere 2009

Have you ever been to Bele Chere? It is a street festival, held every July in Asheville NC. It is a three day celebration of art, artists, music and one of my favorite cities. It is also pure Joy!
Artists and art are everywhere. There are what seems like miles of booths set up alongside the road. In some cases, like in my first three photos, the artist is the art. These living statues were quite wonderful. They would hold various poses, as still as you could wish, until someone spoke to them, or dropped change in their hat. When activated, they would bow gracefully then mime different things. Great fun. Especially since I suspect they felt as if they were

melting. It was quite warm.

We were able to go for all three days a couple of years ago, even that did not seem like it was long enough. This year, we were limited to just one day.

Did I mention the food? Several local businesses were offering tastes of their wares. One of my favorites was

French Broad Chocolates. No it is not run by a lady from France, it is named after a local river. Lovely Fudge. We shared a Felafel from "The Jerusalem Garden Cafe" and Dinner was a vegetarian combo from a street vendor. (Oh my goodness, it was wonderful) Unfortunately I did not write the name of

the vegetarian vendor down. I really don't think
you can go wrong with anything on offer.
The fourth is an example of the art that is all over Asheville on a daily basis. The giant Iron is sitting out on a corner, just waiting to inspire despair. (My sister Paula thinks it is funny that after all those years in the military and ironing uniforms, I chose another career that requires uniforms, and I still feel like I have to iron them). Do you even own an Iron? My iron is not quite this old, but my ironing board is a wooden one that was made many years ago for my Mother in Law. The neat thing is she was about my height (not tall) so it is just right for me.

The odd looking frame contraption is a mister. A great way to cool off. Don't forget to put the camera away first.

A lot of the booths were selling different types of art. One of the many that I particularly liked was, Starships.com I guess the anniversary of the moon landings has me thinking about space ships.

Another good booth was provided by "Malaprop's Bookstore and Cafe". Books, nice atmosphere and coffee. Great combo.

One of the many things I love about Asheville is the blending of the new and the old. They have a lot of

wonderful architecture.

Some of the art is participatory. They have some giant canvas and paints ready for you to add to a mural and we even saw a walking puppet show. Cute.

There are stages set up in several locations. Far enough apart that they don't compete with each other and plenty of street musicians. Our dinner was accompanied by a couple of enterprising young ladies tap dancing.

Last but not least, a lovely bit of sunshine. This fine specimen was looking down on me from the yard next door to where we parked the car.

Have I wet your appetite? Bele Chere 2010 is less than 12 months away. Next years website is not up yet, but if you want a little more of a taste, try this years at MountainX.com
Kat

Hodge Podge

This weeks art project is another Fairy Scrapbook page for my great nieces. I am quite pleased with how it turned out. I took the mushroom and niece photo then combined them with help from Photoshop Elements 4 and wings from http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/ The frame is a shape tool included with elements.



It has been a very busy week but I do have some photos that I wanted to share.
This lovely specimen of turtlehood is a rescue. My sweet husband keeps extra paper towels in his car for just this sort of occasion. Whenever he spots a turtle in the road, he stops (if safe) and carries it out of harms way. This was a particularly beautiful creature. One of the many reasons I am still crazy about that man.
The bees are in a friends yard back in Utah. They were in an old walnut tree that had died. When he cut the tree down, he discovered the hive. He set the portion of the tree that they were occupying back up and put a cover over it to keep off excess sun, rain etc. Wild hives need to be protected wherever we can.

The tombstone is another art project. A recent trip to the bookstore and Halloween issues of various women's magazines have got me in a Halloween mood. This tombstone is a photo that I took early in the summer. I removed the name, there wasn't a date, and then used my trusty photoshop elements to change the texture and make it look more like a watercolor. I am not sure what I will do with it, but I like it. Sometimes that is all that matters.

Last, but not least, another great culinary treat provided for me by my Sweet Heart. Cherry Scones. He started with a basic recipe while we lived in England and over the years he has perfected it. The flavor and texture are perfect. This was breakfast a couple of Sunday's ago. I am not sure what sort of delights he is planning for this morning, but I hear intriguing sounds coming from the kitchen and the Tea is lovely. (PG Tips)
Have a lovely week.