Views around the farm this week

A good sign today.










Mom helps out with dessert.























A new cheese is in the works. It needs a name. Any suggestions?










Baby onions ready to roast. These were picked only an hour earlier.












Feta in whey brine. 100% goat milk, of course.

A visit from Adrianne

Mom stops by.

My mother came for a visit for a few days. She arrived late Thursday night and stayed at a hotel near the airport. I borrowed Ginnie's car and met Mom at her hotel. We drove back to the airport and signed me onto her rental car. She followed me back to the farm and brought her things into the White House.

Mom's been struggling with health issues so she's not as energetic as she used to be. It's a shame because she couldn't explore the gardens or walk around easily. We took our time and walked up to the Barn in order to say hello to everyone. It was just about lunch time so most folks were lingering while Ginnie prepared pizzas. She makes her own dough and likes to load each pie with lots of toppings. One had goat cheese, sausage, homemade tomato sauce, olives and onions. Another had artichoke hearts, cheese, and salsa. The third was covered with lost of sausage, cheese, olives, tomatoes, onions, and sauce. It was quite a feast.

Gareth, Steve and Lee's younger son talked about traveling to the Galapagos. He's only home for a few days so it was nice to hear some of his stories about Ecuador. They've been working him hard while he's home. He had the pleasure of turning the compost pile after lunch.

Once the pizzas were ready, all conversation stopped and we dove into the hot, gooey, slices. Ginnie makes a nice pizza. Her secret: get the oven as hot as it can go and use pizza pans. They always turn out nicely.

After lunch, everyone drifted off to accomplish their afternoon work. It was raining. In spite of the foul weather, Mom and I decided to go to Seagrove and visit the potters. I retraced the drive that I had taken with Ginnie two months ago. We headed southwest to Asheboro and hopped on Business 220 and drove a few more miles to Seagrove. It is only about 25 miles from the farm. It is surprisingly close. We had many maps and drove around visiting potters that I had been to with Ginnie and others that were new to both of us. I am amazed at the number of pottery studios that are set up around a small town like Seagrove. There are over 100 active studios and galleries. Many have been there for several generations like the Owens family. The abundant clay in the area originally attracted the potters and some still used the local clay. We stopped by the North Carolina Pottery Center and looked at some beautiful examples of local pottery from the past and present.

My favorite potters are the couple Laura and Blaine Avery of Avery Pottery and Tileworks. Both Mom and I love the shapes and colors that of their work. They have both decorative as well as functional tiles, bowls, vases, jars, and mosaics. When you pick up a piece of their pottery, it feels good in your hands. Not too heavy, but not too fragile. Just right. Plus, they are really nice and love Goat Lady Dairy's cheese. They both remembered me from my previous visit with Ginnie. It is fun being recognized as "that girl from California who's making cheese at GLD." I experienced the same thing when I was making cheese at Ticklemore in Devon, England. Around Totnes I was know as "the American girl."

Owens red glaze. Beautiful and lethal. It is full of lead. The tall handled jug is a Rebecca Pitcher, a local design.

Mom and I called it quits around 5:00. The potters close their doors so we had to leave. I had made dinner reservations in Greensboro, so we took our time driving up Old Highway 220 as well as Hwy 220. I thought Mom might like some good seafood from the East Coast so we went to Bert's Seafood on West Market Street in Greensboro. It is a well established restaurant well known for their fish. I figured it is one of the few places that might serve seafood that wasn't deep fried. Most "family style" seafood places only serve seafood one way: breaded and fried. All seafood is also served with hushpuppies. Bert's had fine hushpuppies. It also had the best flounder I've ever tasted. It was really delicate, pan fried with a coating of sesame seeds and breadcrumbs. It just broke apart as soon as it touched my tongue. Mom had fresh shrimp with cheese grits (a.k.a. polenta with cheese.) Her dish was also well prepared. The portions were ample and we both wound up taking a lot home. We were very happy with supper.

Mom wasn't feeling so hot in the morning. The plan was to drive to Floyd, VA in order to visit Ellen Shankin and see her open studio. The weather was still wet and we felt that the four hours spent driving could be put to better use. We drove back to Seagrove. Avery was hosting their annual Kiln Opening on Saturday and Sunday. Since most of it was still cooling in the kiln on Friday, we were eager to see what else they were making. We were happy we did. Both Mom and I found some pottery we could not pass up. We both bought tiles/trivets. I bought a bowl and Mom bought some vases. We both liked their designs and art deco inspired forms. Thank goodness for UPS. Jim will be getting a box in a week or two.

We spent several hours touring around the Seagrove area. I drove home using the backroads. The rain had mostly stopped so we were able to enjoy the quiet country roads and lush rolling hills all the way back to Gray's Chapel. I had to drive home on Erect Road. I stopped in the tiny town of Erect at Teague's mini-mart and service station. It is the only thing in town. There was a hand-written sign on the glass door announcing "Bluegrass music, Mondays 6pm." I asked about it at the counter as I was paying for our Lance crackers. The sizable gentleman seated behind the counter asked if I played, and if so, bring my instrument. Everyone is welcome to come and play. I told him I don't play, but I am a very supportive listener. He encouraged me to come back on a Monday and check it out. I might have to leave Climax and find Erect next Monday.

I am very excited by the fact that old time and bluegrass music is so popular and thriving in these tiny hamlets. It makes me want to pick up a banjo or mandolin and learn how to play in order to join in these jam sessions. It is infectious. The musical traditions are alive and well. I have found several places that have these bluegrass gatherings on different nights of the week. Most of them are in old service stations or tiny stores. They are not traditional music venues. I've seen signs in front of the stores that read "hoop cheese – music Friday nite". I still don't know what hoop cheese is, but I'm curious enough to explore both possibilities.

When is a good time to flocculate?

Flocculation is the name of the game.

Carrie Carrie and I had the cheese room to ourselves most of the day. Little Carrie had the day off and Steve was flitting in and out working on projects in the garden. We prepared a batch of truffles and had feta that had to be transfered into airtight buckets.

I am exhausted today. I've been working non-stop since the day Jim left – eight days straight without a break. I can't work like this for very long. I need a break. Just because he likes to work all of the time doesn't mean the rest of the world wants to. I am tired. I could hardly get out of be today. My mother comes in late tonight so I won't have a very restful break for another week. She wants to drive to Floyd to buy some pottery. No rest for me this weekend.

While we were drinking my morning cup of tea, Steve asked if I wanted to make a batch of Providence. I almost sad no since I am so tired. I knew that I'd learn nothing by not doing it so said, "Sure, I could do that, but I don't know how." Steve said it was easy and wrote out most of the instructions and told me verbally how to do it. He helped me get started by loading the milk into the vat and started the heating process. When the milk was up to temperature he let me take over, "I'll go work in the garden and I'll be back up around 11:30 to check on you." Uh….o.k. I wasn't to sure it was a good idea for him to take off and leave me with the vat. Carrie was busy working on filling orders while I made the cheese. I added the culture and stirred it in. I then left the cheese to ripen 30 minutes per Steve's instructions. I checked the pH of the cultured milk at 30 minutes and I seems to have climbed much higher than normal. It should be dropping. Hmm. Carrie suggested that I look back at Steve's notes in the log book and see how long previous batches took to ripen. The last one took 50 minutes. I waited. I checked the pH again. It still isn't right. I rebuffer the pH meter and check again. Still no luck. Steve reappears and takes a look at the meter. He rinses out the buffer solution and starts over. It works fine for him. The pH has dropped and we're ready to add rennet.

"Add your rennet and calcium chloride and stir the milk 30 times. Then stop the milk by back stirring and walk away," he instructed. He then walked out of the room to go tend the garden. At this point I really could have used a bit more guidance. It takes experience to know how fast to stir and for how long. I know that you should never stir for more than three minutes because rennet starts to set up fast. It turns the milk into a gel and does not work well if you continue to stir after it begins to set up. The moment when milk turns from liquid to a gel is called the point of flocculation.

I add the calcium chloride and the rennet. I begin to stir. I stir at a moderate rate trying to make sure the rennet is thoroughly incorporated. I count to thirty. One, two, three…ten, eleven, twelve…. I can feel the milk getting thicker as I stir. Hmmm. At about the count of twenty I notice the curd is getting visibly thicker and I see particles floating, milk solids. I tell Carrie that the curd is setting up, we've reached flocculation, but I haven't stirred the curd 30 times. She says to stop stirring. I stop and she comes over to take a look. She's not sure if I over-stirred or not. She doesn't count to thirty. She just stirs for two minutes. I put the top on the vat and set the timer for 30 minutes. I am afraid I've over-stirred. I really wish Steve had not walked away. I need someone to help me and watch while I'm making cheese for the first couple of times. I always have questions because the make process isn't a textbook procedure. You have to constantly adjust for variables with each batch of cheese. Only experience can guide you. I don’t have much experience, so I need someone to advise me. I'm frustrated. Sometimes Steve doesn't listen when I try to tell him what I want or need. Today is one of those days.

Steve enters the cheese room shortly before it is time to cut the curds. I tell him my concerns about overstirring. He takes the plastic covers off of the vat and takes a look at the curd. We both notice that the whey on top looks different. Instead of looking slightly yellow, it is green and a bit cloudy. The curd is not a solid mass but is a clumpy spongy mess. Yes, I over stirred the curd. I was correct. I felt terrible. 72 gallons of potential pig food. Ugh.

Steve admitted that he screwed up and should have been there to help me. I should not have taken his instructions literally and should only have stirred the curds for two minutes and stirred faster. I stirred it gently (per his instructions.) "Well," he said, "we all learned something today, you learned not to over stir and I learned to give you better instructions." I added, "You also learned not to abandon your intern when they're trying to make cheese."

We scooped up the curds and put them into moulds as an experiment. The curds have lost some of their butterfat, but they felt ok. We'll see how they turn out in the morning. Perhaps we just made a new cheese. I have my reservations, but who knows. It could be delicious.

I still feel awful. I have potentially ruined $288 worth of milk. An expensive error.

Greensboro Grasshoppers

This post somehow got sucked up by my computer. I mentioned some of the content in a previous entry, but this is how I orginally wrote it. Here it is, even though it might be two weeks old....

Go Grasshoppers!

North Carolina has a long tradition of baseball. They don't have a major league team, but many players have spent their minor league careers playing for the numerous teams scattered all over the state. There is even a summer league for college kids. The Carolina Mudcats, the Winston-Salem Warthogs, and the Durham Bulls all captivate baseball fans most nights. Greensboro has a team and a shiny new stadium to host them. The Grasshoppers call it home. They are a single A team affiliated with the Florida Marlins, The players are college age or slightly older. The night we went they were playing the Lexington Legends. There were several young men from the Bay Area on the teams. Novato, San Ramon, San Pablo, were well represented. The Legends have Cody Clemmons swinging the bat as a designated hitter. He's one of Roger Clemmons' sons.

The game was full of action. We saw a few double plays as well as some good hitting. The kid from San Ramon hit a home run. In between innings there were wacky games played on the field, like hamburger building race and guess the state bug (honeybee). We had seats right behind home plate. Ticket price: $9.00! The cheap seats are $6.00. Thanks Jim!

The team has a baseball dog, a black lab named Babe Ruth. The team owner has trained his dog to retrieve bats after at-bats. She runs out, picks up the bat in her teeth and runs back to the dugout. She then gets a treat. Babe also delivers baseballs in a bucket to the homeplate umpire when needed. Everyone must have lots of treats in their pockets. At the end of the game, Babe runs the bases. Well, Babe actually runs from base to base eating treats that have been left there for her. We had a blast watching baseball, eating hot dogs, and talking to Steve who decided to join us. I like the atmosphere at the Grasshoppers game. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. It is cheaper than going to the movies.

Another strange observation: Locals like coleslaw on their hot dogs. Coleslaw on a barbecue sandwich make sense when you eat it – sweet and savory go well together. But on a hot dog? I dunno. I'll have to try it and then render an opinion. I can't say it really intrigues me but if I happen to be at a hot dog stand and it is offered, I might try it.

Jim and I stayed close to the farm for the duration of his visit. We put him to work in the cheese room. The entire week was geared towards getting ready for the Spring Open House on Sunday. We made many batches of truffles and fromage. We also scooped many curds into camembert moulds, gouda moulds, feta moulds, and Sandy Creet moulds. Steve said it was the busiest week of the year.

GLD TV or Yet another moment in the spotlight:

We had a morning news crew here on Monday. They wanted to do a feature about a local farm so they contacted Steve. He asked if they could come out and help promote the Open House. They were happy to send the remote truck out on Monday morning to do segments all morning long. Steve recruited me to come up to the Barn early in order to make chocolate goat cheese truffles on camera. I don't mind having a camera stuck in my face so long as I know what I'm talking about. I got the chocolate ready and had the truffles going at 7:15am. I had an earpiece on and could talk to the anchors in the studio. They seemed to be quite fascinated with the little lumps of chocolate that I was cranking out. I explained how we make them and said that folks could buy them at the farmer's market on Saturday. I worked and talked while the camera went in for close-ups of the truffles being scooped with a melon-baller. Steve took the camera guy out to the feeding area and they got some good shots of Lee and Jessie feeding milk to the baby goats. Happy baby goats make good morning TV.

That afternoon, we had folks drop by who saw us on TV. Sammy brought his ex-uncle (divorced his aunt, but he's still family.) Our Avon lady had to stop buy and get some truffles. We got lots of phone calls from people wanting to buy our stuff. This is going to be a crazy weekend at the farmers market as well as the Open House.

Jim flew home on Wednesday. I'm sad and miss him. One more month apart and then we'll be ready to take our next step towards starting our cheese business. I'm extremely lucky to have such a supportive partner in life. We're ready for more.

Open House

Open House a-go-go.

Goat Lady Dairy has two Open Houses each year, Spring and Fall. It started as a way for customers to come out and see where the cheese comes from as well as demonstrate how a sustainable farm is managed. Every year the crowd grows in size. This spring Open House was no different.

We were blessed with great publicity. The morning news coverage really seemed to capture a lot of new customers. People were curious about the farm, the goats, the cheese and the truffles. Since I made a batch of truffles on TV, everyone wanted to try them. Once they ate them, they had to buy one or two packages of six. We were making truffles everyday, getting ready for the market as well as the Open House. We knew we had a hot product.

Sunday morning was spent in the cheese room. Steve dipped fromage curds into socks to drain. He had smoked rounds set out to dry on top of the vat. We cleaned tables and moved camembert around from one side of the room to the other. Then we left the room and began to tidy up the farm.

I felt like we were preparing for a visit from Grandma. Only we were having hundreds of grandmothers flocking to the farm in order to inspect it. We all had brooms and swept every porch, every floor, and every flat surface. Jessie and her boyfriend, Scott put up signs. Odell Routh, owner of Routh Oil Service Station, set up two pottery wheels and had lots of clay ready for the kids to try making pottery. A woodcarver was set up near the red barn selling cutting boards and other wood products. Nathan was up on a ladder, thirty feet off the ground, opening windows along the peak of the Barn roof.

The weather was perfect. Breezy and in the 70's. The sky was clear. People began to show up in droves at 12:30. We didn't start until 1:00. Oh well. Here we go.

I got to give the "cheese talk." I set up a table in a corner of the Barn, near the cheese room windows. On the table I had several cheese moulds, a cheese knife/harp, a Mason jar of fresh goat milk, and a small container of rennet. I also took a half gallon of goat milk, added a ton of rennet to it and turned it into a big gelatinous blob. I taped a sign o the side of the tub that read "curds and whey." This was my big demo prop. I knew it would suck in the curious. I was right. All afternoon, I talked about how cheese is made. I showed kids and parents the jar of milk and the tub of rennet. Then I picked up the container marked "curds and whey" and had them feel the curds. I explained how rennet is a coagulant and just a small amount could make milk turn into jelly. The kids loved it. The curds felt like cottage cheese or rice pudding. Some kids wanted to eat it. I let them smell it instead. It smelled like buttermilk.

I had to step away from my table periodically and monitor the pasteurizer. I got to make another batch fresh chevre during the Open House. During critical moments I made announcements to the crowd in the Barn. I told them what I was doing inside and to watch through the windows. When I was through, I'd explain it again and take questions. I had a great time, but I was really pooped by the end of the day.

I did manage to go outside a couple of times just to see the hoards of visitors. We were swamped. The crowds of people inside the barn were large. The coolers full of cheese were emptied by 3:00pm. The lines to sample the cheeses snaked around the room and out the doors. We had a tremendous response.

People were parked over in the pasture by Ginnie's house. Cars were parked up and down Jess Hackett Road. People were everywhere. They were eager to pet goats, look at the pigs, hold a chicken, and eat cheese. They wanted to spend money and by something from the farm. We didn't want to disappoint them. Everyone seemed to leave happy. People lingered around the pond, looking at the frogs, fish and little water snake. Families brought picnics and sat under the trees and ate. It was a perfect day to spend on the farm.

Up and down and all around

Suzie Q, the runt visits the older girls.

This week is the busiest week of the year in the cheese room. We have been producing logs, camembert, sandy creek, crottin, marinade, flavored fromage, truffles, goat milk gouda every day. We are still struggling to get a consistent texture with the fresh chevre. It seems that there are always some curds that turn out too soft.

Fortunately, we had time to catch some baseball before Jim headed back to San Francisco. The Greensboro Grasshoppers are a single A, minor league team affiliated with the Florida Marlins. The small stadium in downtown Greensboro is fairly new and a great place to watch a game. Tickets range from $6-$9. Cheaper than a movie. Steve joined us for the evening and Nate dropped by, too. The weather was perfect. It hovered around 70 degrees for the entire game.
We got to see the Grasshoppers pounce on the Lexington Legends. I had a great time and I think everyone else had fun, too. One novelty: the team has a dog that runs out and picks up bat and delivers balls to the umpires. Her name is Babe Ruth. She also runs the bases at the end of the game. The food selection was a bit lacking. We all ate hot dogs. Steve was sad he couldn't get coleslaw for his hot dog. I guess it is a local way of eating hot dogs. I might have to try it before I go.

We put Jim to work on Monday and Tuesday. He helped us dip curds, turn ripening cheese, package fromage and just be another pair of hands where ever we needed them. He even got to try his hand at milking! We were all sad to see him go on Wednesday.

On Thursday we had to pitch a batch of camembert. The pigs were thrilled. They gobbled up the flimsy discs of nascent cheese with great vigor. The cheese didn't acidify correctly. Steve suspects that the culture used to initiate ripening had gotten too old. It essentially became sluggish and quit working. It is like adding old yeast to your bread dough. It just doesn’t rise to the occasion. The day after the cheese was made, the pH wasn't right. It must be at a certain level in order to demould the cheese. It never reached the right pH. We waited another day and checked it. Still not right and it began to smell like bad buttermilk. Not a good sign. It also could not hold its shape. It was extremely soft and began to turn into little blobs instead of springy discs. After much debate, the call was made and week too all of the cheese, put it into buckets and fed it to the pigs. We had a bunch of very happy pigs that afternoon.

We made another batch of camembert with new culture. It turned out fine. Nice texture to the curds and the pH is correct.

Little Carrie and I got to represent Goat Lady Dairy at the Triad Farmer's Market on Saturday. Steve stayed home to make cheese and prepare for the spring Goat Lady Dairy Open House on Sunday. Steve never stays home on a Saturday so this was a big vote of confidence for our selling abilities. Our goal was to sell as much as possible as quickly as possible. We wanted to lighten our load and head for home. Selling lots of cheese wasn't a problem. The market was swamped. People were lined up three deep to buy our cheese. We were slammed from about 9:30 until we left at 4:00. There was a North Carolina wine festival going on in the back parking lot. There were lots of folks getting tipsy on some mediocre wines. Naturally they were eager to buy some cheese and we were happy to sell it to them. We tried to quit around 3:00, but didn't pull away from the stall until 4:00. We were sold out of most of the cheese yet they still wanted to buy anything we could sell them. I hope I can have such demand for my own products in the future! Carrie and I were exhausted by the time we were through. We couldn’t wait to go home and take a nap. The thirty mile drive back to the farm seemed to take forever.

Steve was waiting for us when we pulled up to the Barn. He was finishing up in the cheese room. We gave him a full report as we unloaded the coolers out of the pick-up truck. He was happy we sold so much cheese. We almost sold too much because we needed lots for the Open House. It is hard to anticipate how much cheese is needed for the Open House. We've never had this much publicity for it before. We had several mentions in the Greensboro News and Record, Fox News 8 did their live broadcast and put it on their website, the 3000+ folks on the GLD email list had the word. We were bracing for an onslaught of visitors at the farm.

A weekend away in Floyd, VA

Floyd, VA.

The Blue Ridge Parkway skirts the eastern edge of Floyd. We exited the parkway and followed directions to Ambrosia Farm, a bed and breakfast about five miles south of town. We pulled up to an old farmhouse and saw Craig, one of the proprietors working on a cinderblock cabin up on the hill. He came down and greeted us. Since he was dusty, he told us to let ourselves in and directed us to our room. We booked the master bedroom on the ground floor. Nice room filled with antiques. It had a major flaw. It was built for people who were 5'8" or shorter. The doorframe was too short for Jim. He had the same problem with the bathroom. I kept hearing a loud thump and then cursing. Jim would enter the room clutching his head. The ceiling was low, too. We felt like giants.

We went for a walk soon after we arrived in Floyd. Craig directed us to a path up the lane. We skirted around some woods and climbed up a steep hill to come upon a sweeping view of the neighboring hillsides. The landscape was lit by the golden glow of the late afternoon sun. There were old cherry trees up on the crest of the hill, but most of it was cleared. There was an overturned bench on top of the hill. Jim turned it over and we sat there admiring the view.

We walked back to the farm and got ready for our big evening. It was already 7pm and we had to get supper and see some bluegrass!

Floyd consists of a stoplight and a small downtown. That's about it. There are shops that cluster along four blocks. The Floyd Country Store is in the middle of one of these blocks. We pulled up to the building and saw a crowd was already gathered. The music began around 6:30 with a gospel act and there were three more acts on the bill. Jim and I parked the car and walked over to the store. Outside there was a raffle going on. There were also a few gentlemen standing around holding instruments and playing music. It isn't every day you can walk down the sidewalk and have to dodge someone playing the banjo. We knew were had found something good here.

We stepped inside. It was crowded. We gave an older woman $3.00 a piece and promptly turned around in search of dinner. We ate a quick meal at the Blue Ridge Café around the corner and made it back in time to catch the end of the second act's set.

There were about 200+ people crammed into the Floyd Country Store on Friday night. About half of them were dancing. The bands were expected to play songs that folks could dance/clog/tap to. Almost everyone was clogging, or as the locals call it, flat footing. They wore special shoes. They look like jazz shoes with taps on them. One guy had taps on his black penny loafers. There seem to be different styles of clogging shoes. Some liked do dance with loud taps, others were more subtle. The dance floor was packed during every tune. Young and old were up and moving. The Jamboree was THE place to be on Friday nights in Floyd. Twice during the evening, a gentleman took command of the mic and joined the band in order to call square dances. Again, the floor was packed with dancers of all ages. Somehow, I seemed to recall what some of the moves were. I have a vague memory of learning how to square dance in grade school. Aleman left and do-si-do. Jim and I were happy campers. We didn't dance, but we really enjoyed the music and watching the fun all around us. Most of the attendees were locals, but there were other tourists like us in the audience. I am amazed that old time and bluegrass music is thriving in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

If I wanted to really see a lot of authentic traditional music of the area, I'd check out more spots along The Crooked Road. It seems that Jim and I are not alone in wanting to discover and enjoy bluegrass, old time, and folk music played in an authentic setting. The state of Virginia had developed a heritage music trail that winds through the mountains of southwest VA. You can spend a week or more exploring the Carter Family Fold, Ralph Stanley's museum, luthiers, theatres, and other unusual venues where folks get together and play. A book is available that documents the sights and sounds of The Crooked Road. It seems to be working. It is great to see this stuff thriving.

Fairy Stone State Park.

We spent Saturday morning south of Floyd. We drove to Fairy Stone State Park. With a name like that I could not resist. Fairy stones are a crystalline rock (iron aluminum silicate or staurolite) that occurs in a corner of the park. They are found in many hexagonal shapes and often intersect at right angle in cross-like formations. They're about half and inch long. You find them by just picking over the dirt and looking for them. No digging allowed! Jim and I went to the hunt site next to Haynes 57 Service Station. The ranger at the visitor's center said Ronnie, the owner would be happy to clean up anything we find for a small fee. We spent over an hour walking around and sitting on a hillside looking at rocks. We found many possible crystals imbedded in larger rocks. Jim found a few rectangular examples of fairy stones. I managed to find a good example of a St. Andrews cross shaped fairy stone. It has a cross piece intersecting at a diagonal instead of at 90 degrees. I was happy. I put it in my pocket right away. Can't lose my new good luck charm.

We drove back to Floyd and grabbed a sandwich and Café del Sol. After lunch we walked down the block to the Floyd Country Store and looked at wooden bowls, that had caught our eyes the night before. A local artist named Glendon Boyd carves bowls from local wood. He doesn't use a lathe. He prefers to carve the wood using traditional methods. The results are really exciting. Wahoo wood bowls were my favorite. Wahoo is a local name for winged elm, I had to ask. We had a hard time choosing, all of his bowls were so tempting.

We took our purchases back to the car and headed west to visit the pottery studio of Ellen Shankin. She's a local potter who does exceptionally fine work in ceramics. Mom and I have several of her pieces, purchased when we were in Floyd several years ago. When Jim walked into her studio gallery, he looked around and said, "I recognize that, and that, and that…." I use my pottery. I keep olive oil next to the stove in one of Ellen's ceramic bottles. We bought a few more pieces. I couldn't help myself.

The rest of our time in Floyd was pretty quiet. We had supper at Oddfellas Cantina. It was so-so. Jim continued to bump his head at the B&B. We left Floyd on Sunday morning, happy to have spent a couple of days in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Sunday Night: Dinner at the Dairy.

Jim and I had a seat at the most exclusive restaurant in Gray's Chapel, NC. We had Dinner at the Dairy, Goat Lady Dairy's once-a-month restaurant event. Chris, the chef pulled off another amazing meal using Goat Lady Dairy pork, green Vidalia onion, asparagus risotto, strawberry shortcake, warm goat cheese salad, and an assortment of Goat Lady Dairy cheeses. I enjoyed being a customer instead of a worker. Nathan provided flawless service and we spent a nice evening talking to the other couples at our table.