All it took was a loom to brighten my spirits.

This weekend my family (and Richie) traveled to Asheville for some relaxation time. On Friday evening we arrived at the cottage where we would be staying and discovered that it was, well, less than wonderful. But, being the troopers that we are, we began to make dinner and settle in. Unfortunately, but not totally unsurprisingly, while making dinner we met three of the cottage's inhabitants. Three tiny brown mice come to join us for dinner in the kitchen. An hour later, we were relocated to a log cabin which was conveniently owned by the company right next to the first one. What a difference. This was the first place. And this was the second place. See what I mean?

The next few days we visited several art galleries including The Blue Spiral and The Grovewood Gallery. Both really nice spaces for artists. I even found weavings! But by far my favorite part was finding the Homespun Museum located right next to the Grovewood Gallery. The gallery space and adjoining buildings were once home to the Biltmore Industries textile business. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

The loom! A pretty fancy (and huge!) contraption:

Skeinwinder:

Fabric swatches:

Apparently this place was kind of a big deal. They had documents for orders from very important people like presidents and celebrities. There was an Antique Car Museum also, but if you know me you know that I was uninterested in that. While waiting for my car loving family to peruse the cars I fed the squirrels. These guys were obviously used to being fed on a regular basis as they came right in the door and looked at us expectantly. The guy working there directed me to where they kept the peanuts and I was more than happy to feed the cute little guys. The walked right up and took the peanuts from my hands. Cute!

We also visited the Biltmore Estate while in Asheville, a quintessential destination for any tourist. Gorgeous. Pricey, but highly recommended.

Now I have to finish up the last of my school work so that I can be officially graduated. Next month, I'm doing art for my own pleasure. Also, maybe learning to drive?