sasanqua

photograph by rinne allen

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

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

cotton flower

photograph by rinne allen

dried gomphrena

photograph by rinne allen

dahlias

photograph by rinne allen

mexican sunflowers

there is not much color left in the garden, between fall and the 60+ dry days we have had. the brightest pop in the garden right now are these mexican sunflowers with their rich orange and velvety petals.

arrangement and photographs by rinne allen

screen and sun

photograph by rinne allen

corn etc.

photograph by rinne allen

remnants

photograph by rinne allen

weeds as ingredients

late fall...time to pull weeds, but they are so, so pretty!

arrangement and photographs by rinne allen

cosmos

photograph by rinne allen

sacred feminine flower portraits

for the flower social at 3 porch farm this week, rebecca made a big flower backdrop. she hammered nails through a large piece of plywood, then stabbed blocks of oasis on the front. next it got flower decorated and set up for photos. " i wanted to celebrate the sacred feminine. i was thinking of religious icons and frida kahlo. i shot each guest in front of it and the glowing portraits turned out amazing!

photographs and words by rebecca wood and rinne allen

vines

photograph by rinne allen

3 porch flower social cont.

we have so much beautiful content from this day that we could almost make a whole week of posts about it. this was the 2nd annual flower social out at mandy and steve's flower farm, 3 porch farm. as autumn and frost approaches quickly, friends gather to make arrangements of the last batch of flowers. 

photographs by rinne allen

stalks

photograph by rinne allen

3 porch farm flower social

last monday we had our 2nd annual flower social out at mandy and steve's flower farm, 3 porch farm. before the frost takes everything out, we like to have a last blast with all the beautiful flowers and foliage. mandy and steve collect buckets and buckets of dahlias, zinnias, cosmos and other flowers. i helped mandy gather some wild persimmon branches weighed down with orange fruit. there are branches of maple and sweet gum and oaks, as well as ornamental grasses, pods, and beautiful cotton. we invite a few ladies out to spend the day arranging flowers to their hearts content. we hung a few backdrops in her unfinished flower workroom, where the light is nice. then we all go to town making insane flower arrangements! after a potluck lunch of wonderful homemade food, we get back to the flowers until we're too tired to do any more.

it's a day i look forward to all year.

photographs by rinne allen

cotton

photograph by rinne allen