Friday!!! And we’re beginning to see big changes in the houses. John LOVED working with an all women crew on the back deck (which of course they finished). From the left, Maria (who’s working on getting enough hours to qualify for a Habitat house, Anna (who already has a Habitat house here in Lenoir), John (from New York), Francis (from a different part of North Carolina), & Mary (from New Hampshire).

And then there are our unrelated “twins” – Jim (from Tennessee) and Bob (from West Virginia). They seem to be like John & our friend Bruce who 99% of the time dress alike without ever conferring on what to wear. (They only confer to make sure they do NOT wear the same thing.) Jim & Bob may look like they’re supervising but actually they’re responsible for all the siding on the house behind them. You’ll be happy to know they finished that side before calling it a day. Gordon (husband of Francis & also from a different part of NC) is the other fellow in the photo.

Good eats again today for lunch… chopped BBQ from Hannah’s which, we’re told, USA Today rated as one of the top ten BBQ places in the US. It was GOOD!!!

Tillie, not to be outdone and always on the cutting edge of gourmet dining, took us to dinner at the Elk Creek Winery near Elkin, NC. The restaurant was written up that very day in the New York Times although we made reservations there last week, well before the article was published. The writer came down to do a feature on NC BBQ and ended up including a great review for this restaurant. She wasn’t wrong either. Everything was DELICIOUS! Photo from the right – the dog (who stayed outside), Patty, Jesse Williams (our chef who stayed in the kitchen manning the wood fired oven where he cooks much of the food – also from NY), John, Judy (John’s cousin-in-law from NJ), John (John’s cousin – husband of Judy), Joann (Judy’s cousin from NJ) & Jack (his real name is John but enough is enough – husband of Joann). They’re on their way to Hilton Head so we rendezvoused for dinner. Three of us had roasted rabbit as the main course which was great. (The owner lives in a teepee beside the rows of grapes which left me wondering on the way home just HOW those rabbits came to be on the menu. Who knows what you’ll find if you go there. John was just reading where over 100 boars were killed during last year’s hunting season.)