We had a really fun Halloween in Burnsville! The town really seems to enjoy this holiday and businesses as well as the sheriff's office, fire department, banks, churches, etc set up stalls and "Trunk or Treat" vans around the town square for trick or treaters! Then, as it started to get dark, everyone who didn't have a neighborhood to walk in (which is pretty much the whole of Yancey county!) descend on Robertson street, which is a street in town which takes pride in getting dressed up for Halloween and gives out candy to the hundreds of trick or treaters that go there! The kiddos picked up lots of yummy "loot"! Ri said he missed the "White Rabbits" (a Chinese candy)!
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Today, we took off to a nearby mine that we'd been wanting to go to since we arrived in this area! It was a cooler, cloudier day than the ones we have been having, perfect for a field trip to a mine! We learned that the Emerald Village mine and museum that we visited, called the Bon Ami Mine (one of 12 mines), came into existence mainly to mine feldspar, which was a prime ingredient in the scouring powder of the brand Bon Ami scouring powder (other precious and semi-precious stones and minerals were not considered as valuable then!). We saw a recreation of the Company store, and went into the main entrance of the mine. Very cool! Unfortunately, we were too late (in the day) to have the time to prospect for gemstones or pan for gold. But that's Ok- we'll go back just for that another day! We'll have time to research how to recognize valuable stones! Someone told us that you can find rubies in the parking lot- which is what Rigel is doing in one of the photos! Today we went to the Asheville area to visit a Fiber Fair. The Southeastern Fiber Festival (SAFF) is a highly anticipated annual event in this area for anything and anyone who has an interest in wool, fiber, yarn, and the process that is involved from fleecing a sheep, goat, llama, alpaca, rabbit, to spinning it's wool, to making yarn, to knitting, felting or crocheting (to name just a few methods) a beautiful and creative final product! There were demonstrations, farmers and vendors! Recently Rigel and Preeti have been interested in knitting and weaving. Rigel wants to make his own knitting loom to make a something cool. Preeti did her first knitting project and actually made an infinity scarf, completed in record time- within a week, as compared to another knitting project that took a year to finish...
We knew it was going to be spectacular around here in the fall. And it is! The pictures really don't do it justice- you have to see it over a period of time with your own eyes... My favorites are the ones that I've tried to take of a beautiful maple tree to see how the color of its leaves change over several days. We see this tree when driving into Burnsville.
We went to a local school, Arthur Morgan, for their fall festival. There were cool stations and activities, like blacksmithing, cider pressing, spinning yarn, making twine from flax plants, felting, biscuit making, going on a hayride, and even a mini pumpkin hunt! We had a lot of fun and learned a lot! |
The Happer'sHi! This is Preeti, Jim, Rigel, Luna and I (Aneka). We have recently left our home in Shanghai, China to Somewhereinthemountains, North Carolina. Preeti and Jim are both international school teachers and Rigel, Luna and I are homeschooled. Categories
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July 2015
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