Shhh......

Nate Allen showing off the nearly-ready Spoon on Thursday night.

Spoon, the Upper Street expansion of the Knife and Fork empire, is quietly opening this weekend, maybe. If you are in Spruce Pine Friday or Saturday night, you might want to check and see.

The Center for Rural Health Innovation is having an event at Spoon on Wednesday, May 28. If you want to go, there's information here.

I think the official opening is Friday, May 30, but check with K and F before you leave the house.

UPDATE: I can report that Spoon did, with no fanfare, start serving drinks and food on Friday night: nice cocktails, beer, wine, high-quality bar snacks, and sandwiches. Art everywhere, and it's a mighty pleasant place.

Flame Azaleas say thanks

For more than 20 years, Jody has been maintaining the right of way beneath the power lines near our houses by selectively cutting trees that would grow into the lines -- as an alternative to the power company spraying herbicides on or mowing this rich and unique ecosystem. The shrubs, ferns and wildflowers that now populate this path through the community are a testament to what one tenacious and generous person can do.  Each spring, the flame azaleas say thanks.

Sometimes it's just hard being old

Watering the Daisy

A timeless classic

Some things still work so well that they just can't be improved. No app needed. Take the sandbox, for instance.