HELLO ALL
I guess i can't complain about inactivity on the board or chat page. I check daily and am disappointed when there hasn't been a post in a week or more. However, I guess I'm part of the problem as I haven't done much to correct it.I am feeling much better. The cortisone shot in the shoulder has helped a great deal and other pain sources are gradually easing. I've been working on more exercise so have more stamina, that is to say, some stamina so dirty dishes don't accumulate for three days before I clean up the kitchen.
As I have felt better I've thought about a retreat. On the other hand I don't want to bite off more than I can chew. There are several problems beyond my inability to organize anything more complex than a one man parade. The first and most obvious is the remoteness of my location (which is one of the most endearing characteristics of my digs). However, there is a daily direct flight to Asheville from Detroit and another from Newark. It's an hour's drive to Sylva from there and another half hour to my house. I assume that if I do this and anyone wants to come we will pattern things somewhat after Grace's retreat for similar reasons. There are a number of motels in the area, a Comfort Inn in Sylva and several others in Dillsboro right next door. The fun side trips all require some driving.
Franklin is down to two quilt shops, both quite nice owned by fellow members of my guild also located in Franklin. There is another quite small but nice one in Dillsboro. Smoky Mt. National Park is less than an hour from Sylva and so is the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Biltmore House (check it out on the net) is in Asheville and costs a bit to enter for the tour throughout but is a fantastic walk through the Edwardian period where the rich and famous resided. George Vanderbilt was a son of the Commodore, a shipping magnate. George, unlike his brothers, was an aesthete who spent his adult life collecting art from all over the world and making his home something of a museum. The gardens are extensive and one needs two days to do the whole thing. I suppose that's too much to tackle on a three or four day affair. Spring and fall are my favorite times here. The colors in the latter part of October are spectacular and attract leaf peepers especially displaced Yankees who live in FL so accommodations are pretty well filled although the tourist numbers are down for obvious reasons. As a wildflower and bird nut spring is probably my favorite. Just walking my property one sees an encyclopedic collection of flowers that rotate from March to May. It's a spectacle I missed last year. The migrating birds who nest north of here stop off to fatten up from their trip from the tropics. The woods are a regular concert hall sounding of all kinds of warblers that I don't have the patience to stand out there with my arthritic neck bent back looking for them but they sure are vocal. Some of my favorites stay and nest here. If you haven't heard a wood thrush playing his flute in the morning and evening hours you haven't quite lived a full life. Like Grace, I'd like to host a visit at my house which is far too small to spend much time here with more that two house guests. Now that my sewing room is respectable I'd love to show it off.
If we do this and want to do any quilting or sharing I could rent a meeting room at whatever motel we stay at and forget some of the ambitious sight seeing. Am I out of my mind? Probably so. If we were to manage to gather at a time including the second Monday of the month we could all troop into a guild meeting with lunch to follow. We always have a great show and tell mostly taken up with the charity baby quilts. Last week we had a little over fifty members in attendance.
Travel can be via Greenville/Spartanburg, Charlotte or Atlanta but they involve a much longer drive. Atlanta is a minimum of three hours involving very heavy urban traffic.
Well, this has been a stream of consciousness and not a full fledged plan or even an offer of one. I just wondered if anyone would salute the idea if I were to run it up the flag pole to use a rather stupid cliche.
I know many of us don't have as much play money as we did a year or two ago but I have decided to have as much fun as possible and if I drop dead with my home equity loan in arrears I won't much care, will I?
Jane
posted by Jane in NC @ 7:47 PM
1 Comments:
Jane--NC would be awesome for a retreat. The Dillsboro antique weekend sounds like fun also. Bet you could get those two organized ladies to manage a retreat, but you should probably concentrate on regaining your strength and stamina this year. Take care, Betty
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