Splash by Dave Hileman

Jill and I took a short trip to Burnsville, NC, about 40 miles north of Asheville in the Blue Ridge. Lots of devestation from the hurricane last year still in evidence and much of the BR Parkway, Mt. Mitchell State Park and other venues still closed. However we did enjoy the town, the old inn and two hikes. One of them was to a falls and the other 2 miles along a rushing stream. Thus this week’s theme.

This falls, Roaring Fork, is about 20 miies from Burnsville and at the Western side of Mt Mitchell State Park. It was an easy access from a 6 car lot off a small gravel road. The hike is generally up hill but a gentle slope on a wide gravel and dirt road. The falls is list as about 75 feet of cascade, but I am not sure about the measurement. It was rushing down the mountain and we had the place to ourselves.

Personal .4 by Dave Hileman

Well this is an eclectic batch. Perhaps most notable to me, another birthday has come and gone. It has been a year since the last one, imagine that. But a momentous year. This year I celebrated with Jill and my son, Gregg and Jessica, his wife who were visiting. Coincidently, we celebrated her birthday on Saturday and it was a nice event as well. My day included a couple of presents, a very nice dinner with an amazing cake. It is sitting on my grandmother’s or great-grandmother’s cake plate - a nice touch. Chocolate two layers with chocolate ganache in the middle and a caramel icing. Seriously good. Jill is an excellent cook and baker. I benefit. We also picked blueberries one morning and Jill made a super blueberry pie. The celebration continues as on Wednesday we drove up into the Blue Ridge Mountains to a small village called Burnsville, There is an old hotel, very old, the original building dates from 1833 and it is the oldest continuously operated hotel in North Carolina.. It has been redone recently and both the rooms and the restaurant are very nice. Jill came here occasionally with her family when she was young teen for Sunday dinner, which back then was family style. We will go to a Dark Sky observatory for a program on Thursday night - should be fun. Then back to Knoxville and the heat index. I was also able last week to take my bike and ride a loop at Cades Cove in the Smoky Mountains. It is a 12 mile loop that is closed to auto traffic on Wednesday in the summer. I rode with a group starting in the evening about 5. Lovely. We spotted 7 bears. Just a terrific spring and summer and I could, but will not, fill up several posts.

Personal .3 by Dave Hileman

Can you imagine what a special thrill to be the one to officiate your grandson’s wedding? Feel free to inquire, as I was privileged to do so. The weekend following Ellary’s graduation was the occasion of the marriage of Kellen and Lauren. That I was asked and able to do so was one of life’s highlights. They are such a fine, young, Christian couple and full of talent, determination, discipline, joy and a strong work ethic. Lauren graduated from Liberty in Sports Management and is working for the Durham Bulls Baseball team and the Durham Thundercats hockey team. Kellen’s graduation - which could have been a separate post, was from App State in Industrial Design. He made the absolute most of his time in college and earned awards and accolades for his projects. Kellen is exploring his options and doing interviews while also pursuing some contract work for a couple specialty audio companies. Certainly proud of both of them. The rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, wedding day events and reception all were well planned and beautiful. One of the highlights was when the mascot for Liberty and the mascot for App State appeared on the dance floor. They took over the night. As to why, both Lauren and Kellen were the people in the costume for their respective schools. Neat.

Personal Week .2 by Dave Hileman

A wonderful occurrence over the last couple of weeks, the graduation from Leesville High School in Raleigh of my youngest granddaughter, Ellary. She graduated with lots of honors and I am so very proud of her. Ellary Bea is heading to Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia this fall to study stage management. She takes with her a wealth of experience from scores of shows in the Raleigh community both in and out of the school system. Ellary is great fun, wicked fast with a quip and works hard. She was Cindy’s best baking buddy and I heard more laughter than I saw actual baked goods from the kitchen.

I find great delight in my three grandchildren and if you tune in tomorrow you may learn more about that!

Personal Week by Dave Hileman

While in one sense all of this site is personal, as in I write the text, take the photos, choose the ones to post, etc. This week I want to share some of the special things that have occurred recently. I am not quite done with Scotland - I know how many photos can there be - well, a few more anyway. So this week something different but I am starting the week with the most simple and least exciting of the week. Still fun, however. I posted a photo sometime back about my effort to grow a few vegetables. The photo was posted April 3rd if you wish to scroll back.

Well, I felt compelled to provide an update to my “farm.” I planted several things, carrots, tomatoes, squash, pumpkiin, spinach, lettuce (two kinds) swiss chard, broccoli, califlower, strawberries, herbs and asparagus. So far the broccoli and the cauliflower were eaten by a critter. I fixed that with Cyclops and, yes, it really works. It is a solar powered device that emits high frequency sound, flashing lights and more and the animals seem to avoid. I have harvested three tomatoes but lots more on the way, the squash and pumpkins are growing, we got about 20 strawberries, lettuce for about 8 salads, there is one carrot still growing, the basil is wild, the asparagus is still here, the swiss chard didn’t last and the spinach produces only about 15 small leaves. I do have larger stakes now for the plants and they will go in this week.

I would think that my plan to sell produce at the farmer’s market all summer was a bit optimistic. Actually, I never grew anything before and the effort was interesting and not too discouraging so a fall planting is planned and wait until next year!

Final Report from Scotland by Miss Rowena by Dave Hileman

I know, dear ones, that you are most anxious for this report from the food scene in Scotland and London. Yet, I must begin with a wee apology. I was stressed when I wrote last and did not fully appreciate my current circumstances. Now, there still is no evidence that the food will improve overall, but the lodging is quite comfortable and I learned that my current locale is Tennessee, not the abomination of a word I elucidated from the pronunciation. Not that I might be blamed, as some of the ways these colonists use or pronounce words are unfathomable. Yet we persist. 

The lad and lass ended their holiday by swooping off to London on the express train. Lovely ride. We then Ubered to our hotel. There they made a superior choice. We were at the Strand Palace in the midst of London proper. Of course we walked everywhere. I guess they never heard of the famous English taxi! Two very notable meals ensued. One at the trendy Bancone (https://www.bancone.co.uk/) nestled into the West End’s theatre district a few wing flaps off Trafalgar Square. It was, as expected, quite busy, and I feared we would be directed to a stool along the bar, but at the last moment we veered into a great table. Crisis averted. Eating a good meal without a proper chair is  - well, you might as well be sitting in a caravan eating in one of those contortionist-required folding chairs. Or, dare I say, in the automobile. Shudder. Back to the food. It was a rather simple menu. Freshly made pastas predominated, yet with exquisite sauces and accompaniments. The lass ordered bucatini cacio e peppe (long, tubular pasta with pecorino Romano cheese sauce and pepper – the best macaroni and cheese she ever ate, she said). The lad had spicy chili and garlic spaghetti. A mite more adventurous than I expected him to order. It was magnifico.

I'm chuffed to bits they finally opted for a traditional British pub, The Duke of York. Why they waited this long and why they missed innumerable Scottish pubs while choosing instead to eat a cracker for lunch is a mystery fit for Dame Agatha. The Duke of York turned out to be a fine choice. It had a wrought-iron spiral staircase for access to two additional floors, and we ascended to the top one and settled into a nice window table and waited for our order to arrive. The hard-working young lady who took the order also arrived up the stairs to open a hatch to the dumbwaiter and then delivered the nice meal to our table. The lad - I could have ordered his food with a 10-second perusal of the menu, had a grilled chicken sandwich on sourdough. I ask you – in a British pub and you order a chicken sandwich?  It was, however, grilled to perfection. The lass, as usual, was thoughtful and her choice delightful: a grilled halloumi (an un-ripened, brined cheese) with chili jam, marinated red bell pepper, and arugula, on flatbread.  Never mind that she had no idea what halloumi was before she ordered it. She is adventurous!

The highlight of the food experience in London was neither of the restaurants, fine choices both, but the enticing and swoon-worthy Fortnum and Mason. All six floors were explored for almost two hours. The pastry, the teas, the sweets, the delicate china, and a whole area devoted to filling your picnic basket. Oh my, tha mi toilichte. Absolute bliss. I ought to have found a niche and burrowed in and then “missed” the flight to the US, but, true to my word, I am now in the Good Ol’ USA. 

So, I shall see you in a fortnight and unfold the first of the Cuisine and Culture reports from America or Tennessee, not sure yet. And, please, don’t expect too much culture (or food).

Respectively Submitted, 

Miss Rowena Brambleglen

Ruins .4 by Dave Hileman

This is Calda House. It was a two story manor house built in 1660 by the owners of yesterday’s post, the Ardverck Castle. Here is some history: The lands were a property of the MacLeods of Assynt, but passed to the Mackenzies, and they built the house about 1660. The family were said to have held riotous parties, and soon became short of money. The house was plundered and torched in 1737, perhaps deliberately by the Mackenzies as they were in debt. The Mackenzies lands were forfeited after the Jacobite Rising, and the house was sold to the Earl of Sutherland in 1758. The house is said to have been burnt out again, this time by the MacRaes in 1760, and it was never restored.

Ruins .3 by Dave Hileman

One of my favorite spots in Scotland included the remains of this castle, Ardvreck, built the year Columbus sailed the Atlantic. It was attacked and sacked in 1672 and damaged, and destroyed in yet another attack in the early 1700’s. Ardvreck is a small castle, as we usually imagine, with about 1/3 of the footprint still standing yet typical for the time and place. It is a spare and isolated spot where two lochs meet. The castle besides the beauty of the place is interesting because it is a completed chapter of life, no rebuilding, no park, or even much of a tourist stop. The setting was stunning. It is said to be haunted by a man in grey. Note the first photo and that fact I never saw him again. Hmmmm.

Ruins .2 by Dave Hileman

We had very little time to explore this place and it was a shame as it looked amazing. But only a few minutes until the gate was closing. This is Kilchurn Castle built mid 1500’s. We walked under the old and interesting single track railroad bridge to get access to the castle.

Ruins by Dave Hileman

This is an old lime kiln on the property of the Inveraray Castle. It was on the hike to the mountain top where the old folly stands and the view is amazing.

Lovely! by Dave Hileman

Miss Rowena will be back next Saturday to give the final report on the Scotland jaunt. And two weeks later, if her therapy is complete, she will provide her first selection from the US.

Meanwhile we learned that in Scotland seafood means shell fish. Thankfully we both like them for the restaurant we went to for a special meal was only shellfish. I had mussels and scallops, jill had a pasta with oysters.

Flora Week - Scotland Edition .3 by Dave Hileman

A walk in the woods along the shore of Loch Ness. This was a wonderful, easy trail with lots of flowering shrubs and views of the loch. But what we liked best was a quiet side trail that led to the rocky shore with an old fallen log where we spent most of an hour just enjoying the sounds, the quiet, the breeze and each other. Plus, we were heading back to ice cream!

We also met and chatted briefly with a young couple hiking the path and he said that one year ago (on the day we met them) it snowed a bit. So we were grateful for 72 and blue skies and not 37 and snow.

Our barely visible side trail

Flora Week - Scotland Edition .2 by Dave Hileman

Gorse, of course. It is the most amazing yellow and it grows in abundance in Scotland, especially in the west. It is also wicked. The thorns are long, strong and needle sharp. To learn more read this article: https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/news/gorse-the-yellowest-of-flowers/

Flora Week - Scotland Edition by Dave Hileman

These Water forget-me-nots grow in profusion over the rocks of the remains of the nunnery on the Isle of Iona. Constructed in the 1200’s the nunnery was begun after the establishment of the Benedictine monastery, founded by Raghnall mac Somhairle in 1203. Raghnall's sister, Bethóc, became the first prioress. This was one of the three Augustinian monasteries of women in Scotland. These ruins are the most complete of the three.