Sheperd's Pie & Banjo Music

It is not often that someone I don't know sets up Dutch ovens in my side yard, fills our plates with shepherd's pie & hot biscuits, and graces my living room with fast-paced banjo music!

In fact, it's only happened once...just this past Monday. As it turned out, fiddler Dave recently struck up a conversation with Jim Huskins and his wife Beverly because of their mutual love of music. Then Jim offered to feed our family and the Molasses Creek band members. I didn't meet Jim until he arrived carrying cast iron Dutch ovens. They were soon set up in my yard, heated with charcoal briquettes...and the cooking began.

Jim made the biscuits on my picnic table as the shepherd's pie cooked nearby.

By 7 o'clock we were all gathered around my dining room table enjoying the fruits of Jim's labor.

But another treat was waiting for us. All of the musicians brought their instruments. After dessert (David had baked an Ocracoke fig cake, and Marcy brought home-made Halloween cookies) we repaired to the living room for an hour of lively music. 

Towards 10 o'clock, Jim retrieved his hat, and he & Beverly helped us carry the utensils back to their "motor home," a converted 40' airport shuttle bus.

(You can take a look at Jim's bus building blog here: http://www.nomadicista.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2541. His travelogue about their trip is here: http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=28203.0).

Everything about Jim and Beverly's visit to my home was memorable...delicious food, wonderful conversation, and fantastic music! Sometimes the unexpected can be the most enjoyable.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is a 1910 article about waterfowl hunting. You can read it here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news102114.htm.