Des fermes, avec beaucoup de chèvres

I forgot to mention it... the weekend before this past one, John and I went on the Piedmont Farm Tour, sponsored by the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association – we went out both Saturday and Sunday because, man, there were a lot of farms to cover. Plus, the area covered by the tour was fairly spread-out – the first place we went on Saturday was up in Person County, and the last place we went on Sunday was down near Siler City. Perhaps that doesn't mean anything to you if you don't live in North Carolina... suffice it to say, lots of driving involved (we rented a car for the occasion).

I already posted a number of photos on Facebook, so in the name of sheer laziness, I will direct you thusward: CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS. Here's a sneak preview, though, of John getting up close and personal with a goat at Celebrity Dairy:

I'll bet you big bucks that many of the critters encountered on this tour and therefore photographed by yours truly will make appearances in future paintings of mine. Big bucks! Stay tuned.

P.S. As a result of this farm touring, there were fresh, organic hand-picked strawberries for our pancakes on Sunday morning. Scrumptious!

Jumping ahead for a second...

Okay, so I'm heading out for Paris tomorrow... but I'm still thinking about the home front. In particular, I'm thinking about this summer/fall and the places we want to check out here in North Carolina when I return - little weekend trips, etc. I'm making a list, here are the first:

1. Shackleford Banks, to see the wild horses. A co-worker told me about this place, and I thought: how cool is that? Wild horses. Definitely on the list.


2. Charlotte. I'm curious about this here city. I hear varying reports, I'd like to check it out for myself. Especially some galleries, including this one. And others.


3. Asheville. For obvious reasons: beauty, nature, culture, Blue Ridge Mountains, cool downtown. Oh yeah, and to see the Biltmore.


4. Pilot Mountain, NW of Winston-Salem, NC. I haven't been there since Easter 1989 (yikes!), so it's time to go back.


5. The North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro. The animals!

This is, if course, an incomplete list. More to add for sure...