georgia grown olives

our friend peter dale mentioned

this

great little story today on his blog.  i had to share.  who would have thought we would have georgia grown olives.

thanks peter!

color concepts

being an artist, i love to pay with color contrasts in the garden.  whether it’s flower or foliage color i’m working with, i love to pit warm colors against cool, red against green, silver against purple.  these days there are so many great foliage plants that come in a rainbow of colors.  i love coleus in red and almost black, silver grey salvia and black elephant ears.put warm next to cool and mix it all together for inspiration all summer long.

around the house

it’s worth it to surround yourself with beauty.  i am lucky to live in an inspiring place full of eccentricities and lots of beauty.  it makes me happy just to be there and love it all.  here’s some scenes from around the house...

my favorite grits

i know that edna lewis may disagree but i love creamy and cheesy grits.  in athens, there is a restaurant called farm 255 that makes my favorite grits.  they put sauteed local mushrooms on top with some shaved parmesan and a broth.  whenever the weather starts to get cool, my mouth starts to water thinking about them.

the other night i was craving them and tried to recreate them.   here is what i did...and i must say they were pretty tasty!

recipe

1 cup dried grits (not the instant kind)

2-3 cups water (start with less and add more as needed)

1/3 cup butter

1/2 cup heavy cream (you can add more or less depending on how creamy you like them)

1 clove minced garlic

1/2 cup cream cheese

salt to taste

directions

-boil some water and add the grits

-add more water as needed

-simmer and add the rest of the ingredients

-simmer until the grits are creamy and cooked

you can eat them plain or top with parmesan cheese, broth, or  sauteed vegetables....or a fried egg would be great!

old flour sack humor

i ordered this on ebay for a little sewing project, but it’s so great i can’t cut it up.

flower study

we all know sunflowers are awesome and inspiring, but here’s some pics to show they’re just as beautiful in every  stage as they are in full flower.  let’s all be like that.

[gallery]

a pretty book: artists' handmade houses

we visited the

wharton esherick house

this summer. recently made famous by being featured on the cover of the book

handcrafted modern

, it was an inspiring place to visit.

while browsing in their bookstore though, we found this gem...a new release:

while there is nary a southern house in it (which is a shame), there are beautiful photographs by

don freeman

of places ranging from

cosanti

to the esherick house to places in between...

pickin' muscadines

the other day we went and picked some muscadines at a couple's farm out in oconee county. it was the last boiling hot day so we tried to do some quick picking.  afterwards we sat with the couple and sipped on sweet tea and some homemade muscadine wine.  a good day in the country!  i'll post about the wine josh is making soon

[gallery]