Elizabeth's Secret Garden

  I had the privilege of viewing the pottery collection of Tina Granville. Part of her inspiration of working with her hands came from her father who was a skilled brick and stone mason and was often in his workshop fiddling with a project. What started out as hobby has turned into a teaching position. It all started in January, 2001 when she attended an art class at Sertoma Art Center with a friend. She has done a variety of crafts, but she found her niche in working with clay as a potter. This is my sister Andrea with her teacher Tina Granville who has been a teacher at the Sertoma Art Center in Raleigh since 2005.   Tina sells her work at a couple different venues and has traveled to several “pottery camps” as she likes to call them. The places she recommends for courses besides the Seratoma Art Center is Penland School of Craft in Penland, NC and Haystack School on Deer Isle, Maine. The craft sales she has attended include the Oaks Pottery Fest in Wake Forest, NC wh...

  My family took a trip to Pfafftown, NC for a tour of Rita Dee Farm where Alpaca’s are free to graze and are raised for their soft fiber. Denise and Spencer Yost own the farm and Denise offered to give us a tour. Our tour was special because of the new babies that have joined the herd! Winter Bliss (baby Alpaca above) and Hearts Desire are the new babies. They both had their own jackets to keep warm. I was able to bottle feed Winter Bliss as you will see in one of the photos below. The Alpacas are very gentle and a bit shy at times, but they couldn’t resist the allure of food! Check out everything they are doing on their website. You can also find them on Facebook!  http://www.rdfarms.com/   Special thanks to Denise Yost for giving us a tour. Alpaca’s are social animals and I think they enjoyed the extra attention. Alpaca’s are definitely one of a kind. I couldn’t get over how cute they are! They are smaller than llamas and are bred for their meat, fiber, and le...

  Sustainable living for the Ray family is more than just a practice it is an integral part of their faith and beliefs. It is a way of life they have chosen and take pleasure in sharing it with others. This following sentence in their own words sums up the reason behind their sustainable living choices. “We take the charge very seriously God gave us to have dominion over and provide for all creation.” Creation and natural resources are a gift from God and should be treated at such. It is the simple everyday choices that add up and make an impact. It is one thing to say something and another thing to do it. Sustainable living is a continual process and we will never master it, but if we make a conscious effort towards it, we will see results. The Old Thyme Farm Market is a source of income for the Ray Family Farm. They also have a well established online store.  http://www.rayfamilyfarms.com/shop/ They are well stocked with beef and the cows graze a pasture that once was o...

  What I love about Horne Creek Historical Farm is that is makes you feel as if you have taken a step back in time. It takes you back to the 1900-era of rural North Carolina. Manual labor, raising animals, producing food, and creative crafts such as quilting were a normality during that time. This time period appeals to me because of the central importance of community and family. People relied on each other for giant harvests, bartering, and fellowship. The modern busyness we all face distracts from cultivating friendships and being with family. Yes, life was most certainly harder during this time period, but it must have been more fulfilling with a greater sense of purposefulness and closeness. Website: http://www.nchistoricsites.org/horne/   We visited the farm during the 22nd Annual Cornshucking Frolic. Though it was cold and rainy, it was enjoyable to watch demonstrations of different tasks that would have been part of daily life on a North Carolina farm. This demo...