Click, Snap and Voila!

Just a shorty to say hello and wish y'all a wonderful Friday the 13th! (cue spooky music...)
I love taking pictures and have been wanting a good polaroid camera of some sort and saw this blogpost on A Beautiful Mess about her song lyrics scrapbook.  Love the idea! 

Photo & Song Lyric Journal: Elsie Larson @ A Beautiful Mess

Scrapbooking isn't my thing - it'd be great to do this or this - though I'd rather spend my money on other stuff than adhesive paper products and, besides, it's time consuming (although I like the Smash Journal & it seems to be one of the low maintenance options).  I do write in my journal daily and love to add pictures and such. I'd like to add more of an art element to it for more creative expression.

I promise this is going somewhere...

All this to say, it made me think, Oh, wouldn't it be cool to make a lyrics scrapbook from my own lyrics AND have an awesome instant camera like this!

I'm in desperate need of a good, long walk today and plan to get outside as much as I can this weekend since I've been  sitting inside so much and looking at the sunshine through an indoor window.  What are you going to do for yourself for this weekend?

Ok, that's all I got.  ;)  Have a great weekend, friends!!

Wednesday's Walkabout

In a few weeks, I'm going to transition this blog to a new home; but in the meantime, if you haven't looked at Deep Fried Kudzu blog in a while, wander over that way and read the article my friend, Ginger, posted about a new flavor of Mississippi's first (legal) distillery (ha!) Cathead Vodka.  Can't wait for that!

Man, I sure do have my days when I pine for Mississippi something fierce. Though, the excitement I have at the prospect of all the new discoveries here in Asheville.

This week, I'm (thankfully) working a temp job in a town about 40 minutes south of Asheville called Flat Rock.  Yesterday over my lunch break, I got to go into town on a work errand - and it's so pretty here!  Truth be told, I have yet to see "ugly" around here anywhere...

I can't wait to come back up here and explore.  The town was established in 1807 and it looks like there are quite a few old homes.  Flat Rock is mostly known for being the home of poet Carl Sandburg.  (I didn't realize that he was also a biographer, folksinger and lecturer.)  His wife is known to have bred championship (yes!) goats at their Connemara Farms and operated a diary.  Now the park service raises the goats.  I have heard it said that it is a matter of pride around here if you own a goat from their breed line.  Who knew?!

Carl Sandburg and his wife, Paula.  Image from Sandburg website.

 I absolutely love a quote of his on the website: 

"It is necessary now and then for a man to go away by himself and experience loneliness; to sit on a rock in the forest and to ask of himself, 'Who am I, and where have I been, and where am I going?'...If one is not careful, one allows diversions to take up one's time - the stuff of life"  

-Carl Sandburg as quoted from a letter to his friend, Ralph McGill.

Today, I want to grab lunch at Flat Rock Village Bakery that's housed inside a shop called The Wrinkled Egg.  The Wrinkled Egg is a shop that has folk art, gifts and also puts together custom care packages for kids who go away to summer camp.  Isn't that the cutest?  I may have to send my favorite girls a little something soon!

Can't wait to see what they've got in the bakery!  Any place that has hot cross buns that look like this is ok in my book. My mouth is watering... 

Picture from the Flat Rock Bakery website

Have a great Wednesday :)

Mississippi Friends in the Mountains

When I look outside of my window and see mountains in any direction, that instantly cheers me up.  It's so cool to get out of my car and look in front of me to see the glow of the home lights on the side of the mountain. 


So, my good friend, Mary Margaret, put me in touch with a friend of hers named Neal - a fellow Mississippian and Delta boy - and what's more, a fantastic chef.


One of our first excursions once we got settled in, was to Brevard.  We wound our way to Neal's house, where the promise of a good meal waited.  He had gotten a couple of rainbow trout (that very morning, and were swimming around in his sink just before we got there) and made an amazing smoked trout dip.  There are no pictures of the dip because it went FAST - a testament to its flavor and how hungry we were!


A venison backstrap thawed while we talked and ate.  In the meantime, he toasted some aromatic spices - that "smell like Christmas" - and chopped them up in the food processor.  He coated the venison in the aromatics and put them in a huge iron skillet to cook on the stove top.  


We also got to know Neal's friend, Emily, who is so much fun! She's a fantastic cook as well.  We had so much fun!


Neal began to prepare the plates and put down a bed of pureed sweet potatoes, sliced the venison and arranged it just so, then topped it with sweet pea shoots tossed in homemade vinaigrette.  Divine, I tell you!!  

Take a look at this: 

  

I'm doing a story soon for DeSoto Magazine about Neal, Emily, and her husband, Brandon, for DeSoto Magazine about North Carolina fly fishing (Neal & Brandon are working on being guides), so if you're in the area and can pick up a magazine in May/June, stay tuned!