I can't blame the weather; it has been wonderful. It could be SADD, it could be laziness, but whatever ... I just have not been busy lately. 

I did invite Eric Bradford of Asheville Greenworks over for a stacking day and we fixed up all the things that were down in the Avant Garden Proper (behind my house). While we watched, this mysterious figure showed up and fixed 3-2-1 Arches:

Actually, that's  not a mysterious figure ... it's just me in my most recent sewing project. This one is sewn from Italian wool army blankets. 

Anyway, we fixed up 3-2-1 and moved on to Ryan (or Rollins, depending upon who is asking): 

Ryan might still be my favorite of all the things I have standing. The arch-on-arch thing is really cool. 

We fixed up The Mushroom:  

and did a few flat-earth stacks:

We fixed up the Roadside Arch on Pedestal and everything else in the Avant Garden:

Then we went around to the herb garden in the front of the house and and fixed up the GodRock and made this new two-arch thing. 

Overall, thanks to the weather and Eric, it was the best rockstacking day I have had in a while. I need to get this crazy out at Bent Creek and get my stacks out there fixed. I'll be going to Bent Creek Sunday. Come with me. I go early in the morning and the Super Bowl doesn't start until 18:30. 

Opening Day of Wool season was way back in October. I always look forward to breaking out the woolies, one of the harbingers of Fall in the Avant Garden. 

Last month my friend Carrie Allen and I took our dogs for a walk in Bent Creek. Before we trekked, I asked her to model the Big Pile of Wool Clothes (one at a time) for me. So here is a complete inventory of the Big Pile of Wool Clothes, which is usually a mound in my room somewhere ... 

First up is "LightWeight," a Swan-Dri I won for drinking beer in New Zealand. It's sort of my "Going to Meeting" Swannie, even though it has "Stones Original Green Ginger Wine" embroidered on it. It has two breast pockets, which is awesome. 

To the left is the aptly-named "BadAss." It's the Swannie I am most likely to wear while stacking rocks. It has never been washed, and emits dust for as long as you can shake it. I didn't mention that to Carrie when I asked her to model it. 

"GreyHood" is one that I made. It's the thing I am wearing in my Facebook pic. It's a wool U.S. Army blanket with a soft (but unfortunately grey) woolen hood that's too heavy in the back. I wear it to walk the dog, mostly. Especially if it is raining. It's not one of my better efforts, though the belt is somewhat clever. 

"HeavyDuty" is another Swan-Dry. I also won it in a contest for drinking beer at my local pub in New Zealand. I was waaay too good at beer drinking back then.

"Swisstie" is my nicest wool garment. It's a Swiss Army Officer's jacket, and it is awesomely tailored. I picked it up for $25 at Hodges Army/Navy Store in my hometown of Marietta, Ga.

Next is another of my creations, a wool cape that I have used quite a lot since it pulled its way out of my sewing machine Elsa (she's from Switzerland) last fall. It's the garment I have chosen to get the dirtiest, and it is named "PigPen." The wool is Czechoslovakian army blanket, a thick wool that is not of the highest quality. The seashell buttons are the envy of the Avant Garden.

 "Alpine" is the French Alpine Corps wool cape I bot with my birthday $ last year. I swore I would keep it clean and only wear it in clean places, but forget that. It's covered in dog hair and leaf particles from the back of my car. I love the thing. It is the highest quality wool material of any of my woolies.  

And finally, another of my hand-sewn creations. I call it "ItI," because in New Zealand I had an Italian friend whose nickname was "ItI," which was pronounced "eye-tie."It is sewn from three Italian Army blankets. It's very warm and handsome. The cloth rose I put on just for a splash of color.

I really don't need any jackets or anything for Christmas. Nor do I need hats -- I have three Winter hats to choose from. 

And I offer a special thanks to Carrie, not only for modeling but for acting like going out in the woods to model clothes with an old guy you don't know very well was a totally normal thing to do. She's a really cool, very pretty woman.

Anyway, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays, etc. to you no matter what and how you celebrate. Peace.

and the Avant Garden has been a beehive of activity.

For starters, we went to Skinny Dip Falls, one of the best-kept secrets of Western North Carolina in early October and stacked around some. I did an arch on top of a big rock formation and this couple and their dog came by to check it out:

 My sewing machine (Elsa -- she's from Switzerland) and I have spat out some bowls with an eye on renting a space at the Woolworth Walk in downtown Asheville. I've taken some pics to showcase what I do:

Of all the bowls I have made recently, this hairy purple one is my favorite:

That fabric was a birthday gift from my wonderful Swedish friend, Asa Arozenius. I wish I had more, as no other fabric I have used gets "hairy" like that. 

After it had been down for several months, I fixed up the PatStack:

It has been almost two years since one of the coolest guys I have ever known, Pat Schissler, died way too young. 

This is without a doubt the biggest Arch-on-Pedestal I have standing. It's the dominant stack in The Coven at Rob's house. 

Also at Rob's corner of the Avant Garden (which is bigger than mine), I completely restacked the Tripe Arch:

One rock on the ground, three arches ... that's about the best ratio I have done. In theory, three arches should mean six rocks on the ground, so this TripleArch thing is a savings of five rocks! You can't do better than that at the Dollar General.

Yellow leaves are crackling as they skim across the driveway, the River has a leafy layer on top, and the high on Friday is expected to only be 63F. I've been in the River as much as possible lately because I know Winter is just around the corner. 

Over at Good ol' Rob's house, I fixed up the TripleArch thing again:

That has been surprisingly tough over the years. I guess it has been standing for 3-plus years now. 

 In Rob's section of the Swannanoa, I stacked this lighthouse thing that I call Franklin's Tower:

My sewing machine, Elsa (she's from Switzerland) and I have been busy on wrapped-rope bowls:

and this wallhanging:

Rob-n-I went to Paint Rock up near Hot Springs last weekend and found a marvelous rockpile in the slipperiest stream I have ever played in. I warned Rob but he fell down anyway. But likesay, the rocks were great. I did this arch first:  

 Then I found this tall stone with a perfect surface for balancing on the stone right in front of it, just calling out for me to elevate it into the Sunlight: 

so I did and then I made a movie of both of them:

 After 7 years of stacking, I don't hear the rocks call out to me as loudly as I used to, but I still like to give them some time in the Sun now and then. We all need a little time in the Sun. 

In the 12 years I have lived in Asheville I never made it to milepost 419 of the BluRP (Blue Ridge Parkway for you Avant Newbies) to visit Graveyard Fields until this past Sunday. It's worth the 40 mile drive, most definitely. 

The Avant Dog and I took the trail down to the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone Prong:

and kept on walking when the sidewalk ended, in the direction of Skinny Dip Falls. Soon enough, we found the rocks to do this:

I'd forgotten sandals (in the car) and the streambed there was unforgivingly sharp, but I did it anyway, deciding to pay the price later. 

Further down and a little closer to Skinny Dip Falls, we found the rocks to do this:

Since we were so close to Skinny Dip Falls, I did tht while skinnystacking -- completely nude. No one was around, thankfully, or they would have gotten an eyeful of really white 'Murcan flesh that might have changed their Sunday (and not for the better).

After re-robing, we went back upstream to the Lower Falls and I was full of the mania by that time and we decided to do a stack there. After much scrambling and searching (the rocks there were all flats -- very few turners), I found enough rocks to do this little guy:

I hung around a while and watched people watch the arch. It was quite cool to see how many people pointed and how many took pics. We'd forgotten food (in the car) as well, and my stomach was insisting it was time to go, but I took one last shot as I left:

It was a nice day, not only stacking, but also just being. Come be with me sometime. Just let me know via e-mail and we'll be there.