It was a chilly fall day and all my chores were complete so a trip to the mountains seemed to be a good reward. I noticed in the paper that the Southern Highland Craft Guild show was in progress. A road trip was hatched on the spot.

I had in mind to see if Brian Harriman was showing again as I really like his hand-crafted wooden utensils. I arrived in Asheville at lunch time and enjoyed a sidewalk cafe treat near Grove Arcade. I got into the show around noon and looked forward to a day of discovery.

Sure enough, Brian was at the show and he had a complete display of all types of wooden utensils. I knew that I was going to buy a bunch of them as they filled a niche that needed filling in my gallery line.

When the traffic at his booth cleared out, I got to spend some time listening to Brian describe his long trek through an assortment of activities to arrive at his current art of crafting fine utensils from select hardwoods. In the gallery are an assortment of spoons, spatulas, forks and salad tossers. Rub these utensils occasionally with a little olive oil to retain their beauty.

I look forward to getting up to west Virginia this fall and seeing Brian and meeting his family of Border Collies and cats.