Bearmeat's Indian Den - Cherokee, North Carolina

Good morning,

We've driven past Bearmeat's Indian Den several times over the past few years.  This time we made a point to stop in and do some shopping.

Owner David Smith and his wife began 16 years ago and have built their business selling only items made locally by local artists.

He began with a small building with a dirt floor.

There are so many wonderful hand made items that are fabulous to see and can also be purchased.

There are candles, soaps, bead work, baskets, pottery, wood and stone carvings and so much more!

We were both having a grand time here looking at the beautiful workmanship.

I made sure to take pictures of the quilts and other items items that some of you blog friends out there will enjoy seeing.

Attn Nedra, Tanya, and Marty:  Check out the quilts!

Not only are finished products here, there are supplies for making your own soap, bead work, etc.


My Honey found something he really liked so we bought it.

The peace pipe to the right is truly a work of art that will grace our mantel in our sitting room.   

He will build a glass display case to protect this investment.

Although you can order most items on the Internet and have them shipped, some items are quite large and must be picked up at the store.

The leather dress to the right is so soft to the touch.

The bead work  and detail are gorgeous.

Sadly, it was just a little too small for me.

There are also hand woven items available.

Both scarves and blankets are quite affordable and come in a wide range of colors.

We were so impressed by the quality of all of the items in the store.

 The owner made a point to remind us that all items are locally made and that there is nothing at all for sale in the store that is from China.

The bead work to the left had to have taken hours to create.

We were impressed by how beautifully merchandise is displayed.

We didn't have any problems finding things to buy.

Although I don't have a picture of them, we purchased some wood furniture for dolls.

We were restricted by the space available in our car from buying much more.

Of course, there were plenty of post cards.

I'm sorry I didn't pick up some of them.

There was a vast selection of oils for soap making as well as beautiful finished soaps.


Attn: Granny!  Look at that over there on the left!


There is a large selection of herbal teas.

I'll surely pick up some of those next time.Is this a fun place or what!

Now that I am working on these pictures I realize we should have picked up a few more things while we were there.   ;)

Oh, I think we should run back down to Cherokee and pick up a ham for Easter dinner.


Attn Wendy:  Check out all the jars of juices, jellies, and veggies.

I hope you've enjoyed my image tour of Bearmeat's Indian Den.

This is not your average tourist shop, that's for sure!

Very best,
Lois

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 Cherokee Indian Legends

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Return to Cherokee, North Carolina

Good morning,

That beautiful golden field met us in the morning outside our hotel as we loaded the car to leave Kingsland, Georgia.  By evening we would be in Cherokee, North Carolina.

The sun barely reached over the hotel roof to light the pine trees.

Just on the other side of the parking lot from the hotel was this old building.  Perhaps the chimney was a remnant of an old home.... Or, perhaps it was part of a blacksmith shop and that was an old horse barn behind it....

It was still very early as we headed North.  The sun through the trees caused a constant flickering reminiscent of an old silent movie.

 Soon we reached the South Carolina border.

 Then the North Carolina Border.  The weather was gorgeous for this trip.

 

 In Cherokee, North Carolina, we were greeted by this fellow.  He reminds me of a teddy bear I had as a child only this guy is much larger.

Tomorrow I'll share images of a place that is as much museum as it is store in Cherokee where we bought My Honey a beautiful work of art.  There are also images of quilts for my quilting friends and soaps for my soap making friends.  There are so many good things to share that I am lagging just a few days while we travel to have the time to get images downloaded, formatted, posts written, and on line.

We are truly enjoying this trip;  I hope you enjoy traveling along with us.

Very best,
Lois

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The Cherokee Nation: A History 

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Heading Home - Road Trip Florida to Georgia

Good morning,

I took this image from the highway as we left Freedom of the Seas and Port Canaveral, Florida, to begin our road trip home.  Our first stop will be across the Georgia State Line.

You may remember this bridge from an earlier trip home from Port Canaveral.  This is just about the spot where I always reach over, take My Honey's hand, and say, "We're on our way home!"

 The scenery was surely different from what we have been seeing for the past few weeks at sea...

...including the highway patrol doing what they do so well.

 The sky was blue and the air was a crisp 65 degrees F.  Back home the temperature won't reach 65 degrees for another few weeks.

 

 As we approached Daytona Beach, Florida the traffic got heavier...

 ...and we spotted the Good Year Blimp hovering over the Atlantic Coast.  The last time we saw the Good Year Blimp was just before we left Cincinnati the last time.  I'm sure there was some event happening at Daytona Beach.

Ah, my friend the cell tower.  Oh, how I would love to find those out to sea so I could have a speedy, reliable Internet connection.  Yeah, right.  

 It wasn't long before we passed Jacksonville, Florida on our right.

 We headed out of Jacksonville...

 ...past some lovely vacation homes.

 We soon reached the Georgia State Line; only three miles up the road we made our first stop.

This first leg of our journey home took less than four hours which was great for the first day off the ship.  We enjoyed a late lunch at I Hop (ah, yes I Hop!), then retired early to our cozy Hampton Inn.  We had been up since 3 AM so this was a wonderful afternoon to adjust to a more normal sleep cycle.

Tomorrow morning we will be up early for more than seven hours on the road to Cherokee, North Carolina.  We were in Cherokee last November and captured images of beautiful Fall colors.  This time we are looking forward to images of snow on the mountains.

I hope you're enjoying our road trip with us.

Very best,

Lois

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 National Audubon Society Regional Guide to the Southeastern States: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, ... Field Guide to the Southeastern States)

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Packing Up the Knit and Crochet Projects

Good morning,

It's packing time.  In addition to packing clothes, computers, etc., I'm packing up items I've made while away from home for the past few weeks.  These are items that I haven't already featured here with their patterns.  

Some of these pictures are of items I made and have given away.

I've given away the sets of cupcakes to my sister-in-law and other friends.

And then, there are the turtles (pattern here).

There are turtles, turtles, and even more turtles.

Most of them have crawled out of the turtle bowl, though, and have found new homes.

I have also made 80 flowers for another flower afghan (pattern here).  I have packed up the flowers to go home where I have the yarn to finish this project.

Daughter Catherine sends us care packages every week and instead of using Styrofoam packing material, she uses balls of yarn.  Very clever!  I work very hard to use it all before we leave for home.  ;)

And, finally, while we have been out here floating around I have finished a sweater for one of the kids for next Halloween.  This one is made using a Bernat pattern that I imagine is still available on their web site.  I won't say who it is for yet because I know the kids sometimes check into my blog.

This pumpkin sweater will disappear into my gift box at home until the appropriate time next year.  ;)

To the left is a sweater I made for my daughter.  It's made with my pattern published earlier here.

Other projects I have made in the last few weeks have already been featured here with my patterns.

 Still to come are several projects that I've finished and will feature here in the next days and weeks. Most of them are clothes for Ginger, my 18" doll.  She has become quite demanding!

Have I mentioned that I have a suitcase dedicated to knitting, crochet, and supplies when I travel?  ;)

Do you take needlework projects along when you travel?   I have enjoyed meeting others while away from home this time who also enjoy knit and crochet.  Some don't speak English, but we all speak needlework.  :)

I'll be back soon with more patterns.  :)  I hope you'll enjoy using some of them.

Very best,
Lois

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16" Inch Circular Bamboo Knitting Needles Premium Collection (15 Sets) 

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