fall leaves

photograph by kristen bach

sara parker textiles

i kept seeing these really great drawings on pouches, tea towels, and linens all over town. turns out it is the work of local textile designer, sara parker. i visited her studio recently to get to know her, and tell her how much i love her drawings!

sara was raised up in the country in thompson, georgia. after living in chicago and attending the art institute there, she and her husband moved to athens in 2012 and set up shop. she says she has always been a nature girl, and it shows in her simple drawings, distilled from hundreds of hours of 'looking'. i grew up a nature girl too, always observing colors, lines, and shapes in nature. i just love her drawings. sara has plenty of flora and fauna to work with since she and her husband moved down here in 2012. 

sara screen prints her fabric in her home studio. she makes all kinds of wonderful things from it, as well as notecards. you can see it all on saraparkertextiles.com.

photographs and words by rebecca wood

pinks

photograph by kristen bach

wreath inspiration!

we all love making our own wreaths around here...here is a little round up of some of the ones we have made over the years...enjoy!

wreaths by all offs, and mandy too!

sand beauty

photograph by kristen bach

twin tops fish camp

a few weeks ago my husband and i listened to a gravy podcast episode about fish camps around gastonia, north carolina. we were so intrigued.  so, on a recent trip to charlotte, we headed over to gastonia.  at 3pm twin tops fish camp opened and people flooded in.  by the time we left, nearly every table was taken!  our server treated us like family; i thought at one point she may sit down at our table.  

it was a treat for sure!  a southern homecooked meal with a dose of southern hospitality. you could tell it was a tradition for many families to dine here at their local fish camp.   

photographs and words by kristen bach

fall light

photograph by kristen bach

carvings

there are a couple of beech trees i pass on my nature walk. they are covered in carvings marking loves and feelings. i hope it doesn't hurt the tree. i love to wonder at the markings. how many of those lovers are still in love?

photographs and words by rebecca wood

sasanqua

photograph by rinne allen

before the frost

we had a looooong summer this year, and a short fall. i was out at 3 porch farm making some flower art and took a break to go shoot the flower fields before the frost. these pink celosias stole my heart! here they are before the frost….

photographs and words by rebecca wood

deciduous magnolia

photograph by rinne allen

colors of fall

we have had a funny fall.  the weather has been warm, weather has been ultra dry, our trees and plants don't know what is going on.   last week a friend told me she had iris' blooming! at any rate, i feel like the fall leaves have stuck around longer than usual.  i surely don't mind that!

this past weekend we went on an annual hike to take in all of the fall beauty.  we spent the weekend in charlotte, nc and went hiking at a local park.  the trees were exploding with colors that i had never seen before, it was breathtaking.  

if you haven't hiked around yet......don't wait!  those fall leaves will be dropping soon!

photographs and words by kristen bach

cacti

photograph by kristin karch

autumn orange

photographs by kristin karch

autumn botanicals

photograph by rebecca wood

herbed salt

we always grow a variety of herbs but you can only use so many fresh herbs.  this year we wanted to preserve them so we could use them through the winter months.  we decided to try making this herbed salt.  it was a really simple way to preserve them and will be a great gift to give throughout the holidays.  enjoy! 
ingredients
6  cups of fresh herbs (I used basil, rosemary, sage, and thyme)
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup sea salt
directions
finely dice all of the herbs with a chef's knife.  you want them to be diced very very fine!
-do the same to the garlic
-combine all of the ingredients
-spread the mixture out on a parchment paper lined baking pan
let dry out for a day or two.  if you have an oven that is cooling you can also stick in the oven when oven is warm, just to dry it out a bit quicker
-store in a closed containers when salt is completely dry

photographs and recipe by kristen bach

pokeberry

photograph by rebecca wood

kilometer zero proust questionnaire

i was recently in paris and went to one of my favorite spots, shakespeare and co. bookstore...it is located in central paris, at kilometer zero. they now have a little cafe next door that serves  yummy treats and this was their placemat...the proust questionnaire is an old party favorite, used for years to get folks talking...and thinking...

1.  what is your present state of mind?

2. what is your favorite way to spend your time?

3. if you were an animal, which one would you be?

4. what book makes you want to live in a different era?

5. what’s the craziest thing you’ve ever eaten?

6. what is your favorite journey?

7. who is your hero in real life? who is your hero in fiction?

8. which words or phrases do you most overuse?

9. what is your idea of perfect happiness?

10. if you could spend the rest of your life with a character from a book, who would it be?

11. what is your theme song?

12. who are you three favorite writers?

13. where in the world would you most like to live?

14. on what occasion do you lie?

15. if you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?

16. which poem makes your spine tingle?

17. what is your favorite smell?

18. if you could ask the leader of your country to read one book, what would it be?

19. what’s your favorite hiding place?

20. what do you consider your greatest achievement?

21. which book do you have on your nightstand but know you’ll never read?

22. if you could have any superpower, what would you choose?

23. what was your favorite book as a child?

24. do you have a recurring dream? if so, what is it?

25. what to you is the most beautiful word or words?

26. what’s the worst book you’ve ever read?

27. who would play you in the movie of your life?

28. what’s your motto?

29. what’s the most romantic experience you’ve ever had?

30. how would you like to die and in what form would you chose to come back?

words by rinne allen

reflections

photograph by rebecca wood

hawkes creek farm slave cabin

hawkes creek was once a thriving plantation. there were 6 slave cabins for 40 slaves. one cabin still exists, but is barely hanging on. the owner told me that the family that grew up on hawkes creek said there were people living in this cabin ( with no heat, insulation, or running water ) till the 60's. what's left of how they lived is seen inside...

photographs and words by rebecca wood