Davie County's Arts Council Announces "BRIGHT STAR" Cast

Davie County Arts Council announces the cast of “Bright Star”. Come see this shining story and  and music written and composed by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina in 1945–46 with flashbacks to 1923. 

Alice Murphy - Nicole Gonzales
Billy Cane - Ethan Wilson
Daddy Cane - Mark Curran
Margo - Abigal Skibsted
Max - Judah Mitchell
Florence - Brianna Chiles
Edna - Whitney Lynch
Daryl - Thomas Gushlaw
Lucy - Heather Levinson
Mama Murphy - Donna Bissette
Daddy Murphy - Steve Bissette
Mayor Dobbs - Tom Mitchell
Jimmy Ray Dobbs - Brandon Lloyd Hicks
Stanford - Mark Curran
Dr. Norquist - Bill Campbell
Government Clerk - Angela Hodges
Well-Dressed Woman - Melanie Weaver
Station Master - Judah Mitchell
Spirits - Sally Meehan, Emma Hinson, Angela Hodges, and Melanie Weaver

Ensemble
Donna Bissette, Steve Bissette, Brianna Chiles, Mark Curran, Thomas Gushlaw, Emma Hinson, Angela Hodges, Heather Levinson, Whitney Lynch, Sally Meehan, Judah Mitchell, Tom Mitchell, and Melanie Weaver

Digging Potatoes

It's that time of year...harvesting potatoes

Great yield of a variety of potatoes

Always fun to see what shape nature may provide...a heart!

Clematis virginiana

This is a photo of a Clematis virginiana also known as Devil's darning needles, Virgin's Bower, or Old Man's Beard climbing up the side of the barn in the mountains. Lacking tendrils, the vine supports itself by means of twisted stems that wrap around other plants or structures.

This is a beautiful plant with feathery tails or plumes, that give a hoary appearance and is especially showy in late summer. The bees love this common Clematis as they are gathering pollen.

Chasing Butterflies!

Across my dreams with nets of wonder I chase the bright elusive butterfly… (Bob Lind).” As a child, I loved to chase these butterflies but now am happy to watch them gathering nectar from my butterfly bush.

The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail is a quick and strong flier making it difficult to capture a photo. The males are a bright yellow, while the females can exhibit two different color forms.

This Pipevine Swallowtail has a shiny blue body and white spots on the upper side of the hind wings. The blue underneath the hind wings encircle one row of orange colors. These swift fliers are usually low to the ground and do not stay at one flower for a long period of time but this fellow is enjoying my butterfly bush.

The Great Spangled Fritillary is a sparkling beauty and is a medium sized butterfly that can fly very quickly and is easy to see while gathering nectar.

Mutinus caninus - a strange, stinky mushroom

This mushroom was found growing in the apple orchard near the blueberry bushes. I was curious to identify the mushroom and after some research found that this mushroom is Mutinus caninus, commonly known as the dog stinkhorn. It is a small thin, phallus-shaped woodland fungus, with a dark tip. The mushroom is about the size of your pinky in length and diameter but some text says they can get several times that size. This mushroom grows from a white egg and is covered by a decaying slime. The edibility of the mushroom is listed as “of no interest” but who would want to eat it. The slime attracts flies as you can see on the photo. The flies pick up the mushroom’s spores and deposit them elsewhere to help spread this mushroom around. A very strange, stinky critter indeed. 

My Grandmother's Garden Tea Roses

My grandmother’s garden tea roses are in bloom.  I'm not sure when she planted this rose or how she obtained it  but  I do remember the sight and smell of this rose brings back fond childhood memories. 

This rose does quite nicely in a partly shaded location next to our garden shed and tolerates the harsh mountain winters. The buds are reddish pink, opening to pale pink flowers that quickly fade to blush white. As the flowers open, some of the reddish color on the buds remains on the outer petals for a short time. This blush-pink rose has long rambling canes that sometimes get in the way when mowing the lawn. The blooms are about 2-3 inches, cupped and quartered with a button eye and are blessed with a strong sweet fragrance. I'm not sure of the identity of this rose but think it is characteristic of the  "Arcata Pink Globe" rose. 

Adventures in Beekeeping

Call me miss bee haven or maybe aunt bee – just  purchased my beekeeping kit package from Beech Mountain Beekeeping Supplies & Honey, a great new establishment that opened in 2010. Not only do they keep beekeeping merchandise, but also raw honey is uncapped, spun, bottled, and placed on the shelves for sale. I was fitted for my beekeeping clothes with jacket and veil and gloves as shown in the picture below.

The bee yard at Beech Mountain 

Beekeeping Supplies & Honey is  surrounded by fence to keep out honey-loving bears. As I was standing outside waiting for my purchases to be loaded, bees were circling around me. As a hopeful bee charmer, I took this as a good omen. Bees will arrive May 11<sup>th.

My interest in beekeeping stems from the need to replenish the vanishing bees to help in the pollination of our vegetable garden and apple orchard as well as helping the environment.</sup>  During January and February, I took the Davie County Beekeepers Association's course "How to Get Started in Beekeeping". I am now a member of that association and am finding it fascinating learning about insects that live together in a complex society in a man-made box.

Mountain Stream in the Snow

"Take long walks in stormy weather or through deep snows in the fields and woods, if you would keep your spirits up. Deal with brute nature."-- Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American Essayist, Poet and Philosopher.

Stream behind the barn in Banner Elk

Wild Turkeys - Happy Thanksgiving!

Wild turkeys feeding in the field at the mountain house

The wild turkey is omnivorous and primarily feeds on nuts, berries, acorns, grasses, seeds, and insects. 

These turkeys are enjoying the winter rye that was recently planted.

Can Woolly Worms predict Winter Weather? Just Ask the Wooly Worm!

Wooly Worm 2012

Many people in the Appalachian mountains have used the wooly worm to predict the upcoming winter weather for generations. The wooly worm caterpillar is the larva stage of the Isabella tiger moth.  The woolly worm has 13 alternating black and reddish brown stripes and each stripe corresponds to one of the 13 weeks of winter, from December to March. 

According to the wooly worm, the prediction for the 2012-13 winter in the High Country in North Carolina:

• Beginning on December 22, winter will open with 4 weeks of snowy, cold weather.

• Week 5 (Jan. 20, 2013, to Jan. 26, 2013) of winter will feature light snow and cool temperatures.

• Weeks 6 through 11 (Jan. 27, 2013, to March 9, 2013) will bring normal temperatures.

• Week 12 (March 10, 2013, to March 16, 2013) will be unusual, with an ice storm possible.

• The final week of winter, week 13 (March 17, 2013, to March 23, 2013), will be cold and snowy.

We found this wooly worm crawling outside our house and is seems that this caterpillar's segments correspond to the official wooly worm's prediction from the Wooly Worm Festival in Banner Elk. We will just have to wait and see how the winter unfolds as the mountains have already seen snow and it's still fall.

First Snowfall in the High Country

it isn't even Halloween yet and the first snowfall in the High Country occurred on October 29 this year. Banner Elk got an early winter snowfall from Hurricane Sandy and two other weather systems with 4 to 6 inches expected to fall during the overnight hours. Heavy snow is possible and is expected to continue over parts of the western mountains with additional snow accumulation of up to 2 to 4 inches. Happy Halloween!

View from the porch

Trees and grass are beginning to be covered with snow

Black Fuzzy Caterpillar

Caterpillar at rest showing red/orange bands and spikes

I found this huge black caterpillar climbing up the rock wall at our house in the mountains. The caterpillar has spikes and red or orange bands around the segments or ribs when at rest. The red or orange colored bands between its segments become visible when the caterpillar rolls into a ball for defense. The caterpillar can be described as hairy, bristled, fuzzy, spiky, furry or woolly. 

Caterpillar climbing rock wall

So what is it? This is a Giant Leopard Moth caterpillar and is sometimes called an Eyed Tiger Moth. Some call it a black wooly bear but the scientific name is Hypercompe scribonia. 

This black fuzzy caterpillar will turn into a white moth with black circles or spots. Its abdomen will have blue and orange that will not be seen when the caterpillar is at rest.

The black fuzzy caterpillar tuns into this white moth