Our Newest Kiva Borrower

Our love-love relationship with Kiva continues. For the past few years, we've participated in Kiva's microlending program, where we pool our money with other lenders from around the world -- just regular people like us -- to fund business loans for impoverished small business owners in developing countries.

It's been rewarding seeing our borrowers thrive in their businesses and using their loans to help lift themselves out of poverty. One of our borrowers who lives in Togo, restaurateur and father of four, Yao, recently paid off the loan he borrowed for his restaurant business. With our funds ready to reloan, we chose David (pictured below).



David makes custom furniture and has owned his own shop in Kenya for 18 years. His loan, funded by 28 lenders in the U.S., Australia, Japan and Belgium, will be used to buy timber for making more furniture, which will help his business to succeed, hopefully enough to allow him the funds for buying a vehicle for furniture delivery (one of his long term goals). David's loan entry also happened to be one that Innkeeper Brigette edited in August as part of Kiva's Editing Team, so we feel connected to David. Our best wishes to him for success in the future!

Flowers at Biltmore

We were fortunate to see the Biltmore Estate Flower Carpet (pictured above) on a beautiful and sunny August afternoon. The Flower Carpet was constructed from more than 155,000 live plants and flowers and designed to match a portion of the La Farge stained glass window that Mr. Vanderbilt inherited from his father. (The stained glass window is on display in Antler Hill Village.).

After checking out the Flower Carpet, we strolled around and came to the Italian Garden, which is situated near Biltmore House. It consists of three pools with water plants and neat statues all around, surrounded by hedges. If water plants are your thing, you will absolutely love this garden. We don't remember it ever looking as good as it does this year, absolutely magical. Here are some photos for your enjoyment:







More photos are available in the Places Nearby photo album on our Bed & Breakfast Facebook page. We hope you'll join us on our Facebook page. We always enjoy hanging out with our Facebook friends.

The 2010 Flower Carpet at Biltmore Estate will be viewable through September 12, and the rest of the gorgeous plants and flowers that make up the Biltmore gardens are worth a visit this time of year. Don't forget that as our guest, you can purchase Biltmore tickets here at the Inn for your convenience at a discount ($50/person), and your ticket will be good for a free second day.

Afternoon on the Hydrangeas

This summer, we've enjoyed watching a myriad of butterflies and bees happily fluttering around our hydrangeas between the Main House and Lake House. This is a spot where we and our guests watch birds at the feeder throughout the year (such as Mr. Titmouse and his friends in the winter and spring), but other winged creatures have provided a lot of entertainment lately. We took some photos recently ~ enjoy!

2010 North Carolina State Bluegrass Festival

The North Carolina State Bluegrass Festival will be held in Marion, NC, this year, at the Tom Johnson Camping Center's Rally Park (30 minutes east of the Inn on Mill Creek). From Thursday, August 19, through Saturday, August 21, bluegrass music will fill the air in McDowell County.

Bring your chair and listen to the following bluegrass entertainers this year:

Thursday, August 19 - Gloria Belle & Tennessee Sunshine, The Crowe Brothers, Joe Mullins and the Radio Ramblers, David Peterson & 1946, Bobby Osborne & The Rocky Top X-press, and Dailey & Vincent

Friday, August 20 - The Next Best Thing Bluegrass Band, The Bluegrass Brothers, Cedar Hill, Goldwing Express, J.D. Crowe & The New South, and Rhonda Vincent & The Rage

Saturday, August 21 - Raymond Fairchild & The Maggie Valley Boys, The Little Roy & Lizzy Show, The Inspirations, The Grascals, Larry Sparks & The Lonesome Ramblers, and Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver

Here's a sampling of what you'll hear -- turn up your sound and enjoy! This is the Next Best Thing Bluegrass Band:



And here are the Bluegrass Brothers:



Just two of several fine bands that are part of the North Carolina State Bluegrass Festival this year. Tickets for the festival are $35 for each day, at the gate, with no parking fee.

2010 North Carolina Mountains: Fall Foliage

Eight weeks and counting to the start of fall foliage season

With the piping hot summer we've been having (here in the mountains of Western North Carolina, Grandfather Mountain hit an all-time record high of 83 degrees in July and we've had upper 80s more than a few times these past few weeks in our neck of the woods), we're really looking forward to welcoming the crisp coolness of fall, and with it, the sparkly yellows, fiery reds and blazing oranges that envelop our mountains each year.

By late September, we'll see bits of color here and there at the higher elevations, mid- to late October typically brings gorgeous peak fall colors to our elevation at places like Biltmore Estate and the North Carolina Arboretum, and in early November, leaf peepers should still be enjoying a beautiful backdrop of color just south of us at places like Chimney Rock Park.

Wondering what times are the best for visiting the North Carolina mountains for fall foliage? We have the details in a blog post we did about this time last year answering lots of questions about fall foliage in the North Carolina mountains.

And just as in years' past, we'll keep you up to date on what trees are putting on a show and where you can find the fall foliage peak each week with Fall Foliage Reports for our elevation in the NC mountains (2,300 feet above sea level) and beyond. Plus, we'll also be recommending fantastic fall color viewing opportunities from the highest elevations of the Black Mountains to the foothills nearby.

Can you tell, we're excited about Autumn!