Blog
Spill it, Sister!
What's up at 44 Cherry Street? Last week when I asked Lorraine about Frederick, she burst into tears and told me between sobs that he was gone! “Gone???” I asked. “What in the world happened?” Grandpa Ron and Max She was crying hard and couldn’t speak, so I offered to...
Checking in with Lorraine at 44 Cherry
Someone who reads my newsletter wrote to ask me what was going on with the gang at 44 Cherry Street. As this has been a busy time, I didn’t know, so I walked up Cherry Street and opened the gate that leads to the front walk and the steps up to the front porch. I...
These are my heroes!
We are sometimes faced with hard choices. At that crossroads we must decide to go left and face demons or go right and possibly escape harm. I want to celebrate in this post people I know who have gone left and knowingly encountered more pain than I can imagine, but...
Jim Cantore at the airport? Surely it will snow!
You will need these Polar Bear Bowls and dinner plates for the chili you make this weekend. Mid-January is a strange, unpredictable time of year. Right now we are all freaking out because there is a possibility of snow late Saturday night. I just received an automated...
Where will this portal lead us?
Wood sculpture of a noisy crow, $150 The first thing I read this morning was an excerpt from an essay by Indian writer Arundhati Roy that a Facebook friend had posted. In “The Pandemic is a Portal” Roy contends that the changes wrought by this now two-year-long...
Annoying People Are Everywhere
My friend Calvin is an earnest young man who has overcome many obstacles, but, who, in his mid-twenties is still trying to figure things out. I met him when he lived in a group home in Black Mountain. When he lived here, he impressed me with his drive to succeed. He...
Best Books of the Year
According to me!! Sheila Martin's Cranes The books on my Best Books Of 2021 list are not necessarily books that came out this year, but just those I read this year. Keep in mind too that I have a terrible memory, and forget most books the minute I finish reading them,...
The Year’s Best TV Show, Chosen by me!
More new cups by Andrea Freeman! At this time of year many people are posting their favorites of 2021, and I planned to reveal my favorite television shows of the year in this post. As I thought about it, though, I realized that most of what Ron and I watch on...
Happy Holidays?
Tiny blue bird by Sheila Martin will make everyone happy!! I love the Christmas season and wish we could stretch it out longer. I love the lights in people’s yards and the glimpse of a Christmas tree all lit up in the window. Friends line the rooms of their homes with...
Alexa is Spunkier than You Think
I play music in the shop mainly to lift the mood and to camouflage the voices of shoppers who might be saying unpleasant things about the merchandise in the store. (Things I have overheard: “My five year old could have painted that.” “This shopkeeper sure is proud of...
Full of Gratitude…And Turkey!
Thanks to all of you who took the time to write to me or to stop me in the street to give me advice about how to handle this year’s Holly Jolly. The shop is so full right now, that the thought of so many shoppers crowded in here makes me nervous. And then there is the...
I’m in a Quandary! Please help!
Please help me with this quandary: Holly Jolly is coming up fast and I am not sure how I want to participate. For those who don’t know what this is, Holly Jolly is a Black Mountain tradition that takes place on the first Friday night of December and kicks off the...
Another Crisis!! Just what we need!
My friend Suzie Hughes made this fabulous garland. Isn't it great! Every day we hear about some new shortage. Everyone knows there is a shortage of workers in every field. (Poor Natty has almost 300 reservations for Thanksgiving dinner at Milton’s and hardly any help...
Turning Red, Green, and Gold
Some of the handmade ornaments at Chifferobe On Monday, my day off, I drove over to Sloane Simmons’s pottery studio to pick up more of her fabulous cuss-word pieces. It was a gorgeous sunny, warmish day which felt like late summer, but it was also the day after...
Holiday Switcheroo
Baby Max stole a piece of pizza off his mom's plate and stole off to a corner to devour it. His first pizza, and it seems he really likes it! Well, it’s that time of year again. It’s the time when we have to decide when to make the shift from Fall to...
Beware of Bears! They’re Hungry.
We waited for our son Seth and his family to come to Black Mountain before we scheduled a small reception for Natty and Kate at Abby’s little farm. Their flight out here from Flagstaff took way longer than they anticipated because the temperature was only 20 degrees...
Black Mountain is Heating Up!
6X8 Handmade rug from Morocco As the fall weather brings cooler days, the temperature in town is heating up with the Leaf Lookers coming to town. Foot traffic has increased tremendously. Many folks schedule their mountain visits from one year to the next, returning on...
Getting Advice from Homer
Grrrr! It's Max! An old friend and former Black Mountain resident came by Chifferobe yesterday. I was delighted to see him and we settled in for a chat. He was not wearing a mask, and I instructed him to mask up, which he did grudgingly. “Well, I suppose you are...
I’m No Fun to Travel With!
Adorable mismatched socks for kids and adults So, we just got back from our trip to Mexico. When people ask me, “How was your vacation?”, I always answer “Amazing,” for “Fabulous,” or something similar, because nobody likes a whiner. Truth is, I love traveling, but I...
Something is Rotten in the State of Cackalacky
44 Cherry Street continues: Lorraine woke up with a start on Wednesday night when a loud clap of thunder rattled the windows of 44 Cherry Street. Rain was pounding on the roof so hard Lorraine was afraid it would cave in on her and Frederick, asleep in their small...
I know, It’s Hard to Believe!
Lorraine was walking downstairs at 44 Cherry Street with her spoiled little dog, Suki, when she bumped into someone she didn’t know coming up. Suki began barking like a maniac and the stranger bent down closer to the dog rather than backing away in terror as one...
Excitement on Cherry Street
Stephanie barely recognized Lorraine when she waltzed into Chifferobe and plopped down in Ron’s big leather chair. Her cloud of jet black hair, usually a trademark of Lorraine’s, had turned a lovely Covid-gray. Still it was coiffed into a helmet as always, and she...
What happens at Sourwood…
Stays at Sourwood Handblown glass tumblers I carried in my arms from Flagstaff. $50 each Sourwood Festival has ended with a loud splash. The annual event (except for last year, of course) always attracts crowds, but this year people in a “post-Covid-oops-here comes...
Egg-Sighting Changes at Chifferobe
Natty and Max ready for the sunshine Two big changes are coming up!!! My family seems to thrive on change. Kate and Max: ready for the wedding First, this weekend my son Natty will be marrying Kate Grey. Kate’s son Lucas and their baby Max will be witnesses. We will...
What’s that smell?
Scary doll with uncertain roots. The newly renovated four-plex apartment building at 44 Cherry Street was still vacant in two units, one upstairs across the hall from longtime tenants Lorraine and Frederick, and one downstairs across from new tenant Susan from LA. The...
Who Are All These People?
And what are they doing here? Chain saw created crow 44 Cherry Street: A fictional account of real life (and imaginary) happenings in Black Mountain. Find previous episodes on my website. Susan was excited about renting an apartment in the newly renovated building at...
So you think it’s hot here?
It is full-on, high-season in Black Mountain, and the town is bustling with life. Youth retreats have resumed in Montreat and the young campers bring their youthful angst to town every Wednesday afternoon. I ache for the girls who flutter around the lone boy in their...
Is Black Mountain the new LA?
44 Cherry Street On-going saga of a fictional address in a magical town. Handmade Suzani Pillow Covers $25 The apartments at 44 Cherry Street were still vacant, and the renovations were almost completed. The painters had applied gallons of pale grey paint, the dark...
Is the Circus Coming to Cherry Street?
Japanese style wrapping cloth $15 44 Cherry Street is an on-going tale of fictional characters at a fictional address in Black Mountain. Quite often the events reflect changes going on in our town, but sometimes they are notions from my twisted imagination. New batch...
A Surprise Visit!
I was walking up to the Dripolator to get a mocha frappe yesterday afternoon, when I spotted Lorraine sitting on the porch of 44 Cherry Street with a frown on her face and a sign clutched in her hands. The sign read, “ Hell No, Wackos! I won’t go!! Find another...
Hours
Every Day
10:30am - 5pm
Location
132 Cherry St
Black Mountain, NC 28711
Phone
(828) 669-2743