Appalachia

On Saturday, My Daughter and I drove into the heart of Appalachia to go to one of our favorite nurseries and to visit a few farmer's markets.  We stopped at a bakery that is situated along this creek.  Such a beautiful setting.

We drove through coal country and saw this old conveyor that was used to transport coal from the mine.

This is a mountain of coal behind a barbed wire fence.  Sorry for the blur but I was driving.

As beautiful as it is here, there are some areas that unfortunately contribute to the sketchy reputation that persists about Appalachia.

Fortunately, these places were far and few between.

We saw picturesque farms.

If you click to enlarge this you will see that their deer stand matches the rest of the buildings.

The Eastern Redbuds were blooming and the site of thousands of these on the mountainsides is something to behold.

You also see an abundance of fracking.  My Daughter hates to drive by these because of the profusion of swears that pour out of my mouth.

One of my favorite things about these trips is that you never know what you might see along the side of the road.  I love buying local wares and on this trips we found a honey stand.

You put your money in a box and take your honey. Three pounds of honey for 15.00!

We saw this brand new barn with wonderful workmanship.

We were so busy at the nursery that we forgot to take pics but they had peacocks walking around with you as you shopped.  I bought flats of flowers to plant in front of My Daughter's cottage.  She planted them and they look beautiful.  I'll have to get some photos.

I bought some coleus and petunias.

I also bought Gypsophila, sweet potato vines as well as hollyhocks and other assorted flowers. It was a perfect day in one of the most beautiful parts of our country.